I monitor tariff impacts every day: Here is my main trick to help you track prices

Have you considered tariffs recently? You and us.

I have been tracking the impact of tariffs on a variety of popular and potentially vulnerable to tariffs. But given that I’m just alone (I swear), and CNET is focused on technology products and services, I can only track a lot. If you are worried about product or type of product when it comes to tariff inflation, then you may be worth doing some of your own work.

Given the results of the recent CNET survey, it is fair to say that many of you read may be worried about tariff-driven price increases. According to our findings, the pressure of about 38% of shoppers to make certain purchases before tariffs makes it more expensive. About 10% say they have made certain purchases in the hope of putting it into practice before the price rises, while 27% say they have delayed buying a product that costs more than $500.

If it sounds like you, then I want to share some tips I rely on to track price changes over the past few months so that you can keep labeling for the specific things you matter most. For all the details, continue reading, and more, check out CNET’s coverage of court rulings that lowered Trump’s tariffs.

How to use a price tracker on Amazon

Amazon is one of the most popular online shopping portals in the world, so it is a great place to focus on price changes. The company has such a great influence with various consumers that it even rumored that it could clearly show the impact of tariffs on its prices, leading to a fierce reaction from the White House.

If there are items for sale, you can find it on Amazon – and there are many websites and browser add-ons that can show you the price history of most items listed there. For CNET’s daily tracker, I personally use the browser extension Keepa recommended by CNET Advanced Editor James Bricknell, which is available for Chrome, Safari, Opera, Edge, Edge and Firefox browsers. Once installed, Keepa can work by adding graphics to the Amazon Store page you visit, showing you how product prices change over time. You can also fine-tune this graph, change the distance to the price history, and add or remove lines for different purchase options.

Another popular option is CamelCamelCamel, which allows you to track Amazon prices by copying the link to its search bar or as a browser extension, which can be used on the same platform as keepa. Unlike Keepa, which adds a chart directly to the product page, this extension (called “Camel”) requires you to open the chart from a button added to the browser menu bar. Other than that, the functions are almost the same.

These two options also allow you to set up email alerts when certain products are priced on Amazon.

How to use price tracker for other shopping sites

But maybe you rely not only on Amazon to meet your online shopping needs. Maybe you took my advice and canceled your primary membership, or you just prefer to do business elsewhere on some things. Well, you’re not lucky because some price tracking services are used with other popular retailers like Walmart, Target or Best Buy.

If these are the places you shop, I suggest you take a look at the aptly named website price tracker, which says it can provide price history charts for 88 online retailers. All you have to do is copy the URL of the product into the search field of the website, which will generate a chart showing your price over time, just like Keepa and Camelcamelcamel.

How to set up news alerts for specific products and companies

Sometimes, it feels too little to wait for the price to change, too late. If you want to inform ahead of time and get acquainted with wider changes, you will follow news around specific companies and product departments.

To do this, I suggest you create some Google alerts related to the products you are most concerned about. With this service, you can set alerts for certain words or phrases — perhaps something like “tariff,” “coffee price,” or “Samsung Galaxy Price” — Google sends you daily emails based on news coverage. That way, if news reports indicate that some kind of grocery store you often buy will become more expensive, or if the big tech makers announce the price increase of that new gadget you are expecting due to the “market situation”, you will be ahead of the curve.

For more information, find out if you should buy a new phone now.