How to Get Price Drop Alerts on Amazon

The ways Amazon can watch prices and deals

Amazon’s shopping assistant is called Alexa for Shopping. For US customers, Amazon documents several ways it can watch an item or a broader shopping need, from a specific target price to daily updates about matching deals. ^{[1] [2]}

Free printable planner

Get the free Black Friday 2026 Deal Planner

Key dates, a wish list price tracker and a fake deal checklist, sent to your inbox. Plus our best Amazon deals by email.

Send my planner

Free. Unsubscribe anytime.

The key distinction is whether you want information or an automatic purchase. If you only want to know when a price reaches your target, ask for a price alert rather than Auto Buy.

How to set a sensible price alert

A target works better as a decision rule when it is based on recent prices rather than a number chosen at random. Amazon’s price history can show 30, 90 and 365 days, although the 365 day view was still rolling out in the US when Amazon described it in 2026. ^[3]

If you want help reading those ranges first, use our Amazon price history guide.

1. Check the price history Look at the recent price ranges and note any recent low before deciding what price would make you comfortable buying.
2. Choose your target Pick a price that reflects the tradeoff between waiting for a deeper drop and getting notified sooner if a smaller discount is enough.
3. Ask for a price alert Ask Alexa for Shopping to alert you when the item reaches your chosen price. If you only want a notification, do not ask it to purchase the item automatically. ^[1]
4. Revisit the target if needed If the alert does not fire, the item may simply never have reached your target. Check the recent history again and decide whether you still want to wait or would accept a higher price.

Use the recent low to choose your target

Suppose an item costs $48.00 today and its 90 day low was $42.00. A 10 percent drop from $48.00 is $4.80, which would put the price at $43.20.

Reaching $42.00 would require a $6.00 drop from today’s price. That is 12.5 percent because $6.00 divided by $48.00 equals 0.125. Setting the alert at the old $42.00 low asks for a deeper drop, while a target such as $43.20 accepts a smaller one.

Neither target predicts what comes next. The $42.00 alert might take longer to trigger or might never trigger at all. A slightly higher target has a better chance of being reached simply because the required drop is smaller, but the price still may not fall.

Amazon’s pricing help also describes a “Lowest price in XX days” label as a price that is lower than or equal to the lowest featured offer during that period. Its Typical Price is based on the 90 day median price customers paid on Amazon, excluding limited time promotions. Those references can help you decide what target feels reasonable. ^[4]

Be careful with Auto Buy

Auto Buy is different from an Amazon price drop alert because it can complete the purchase for you. Amazon says you can tell Alexa for Shopping to buy an item when it reaches a target price, and the purchase is made using your default payment method. ^[1]

If your goal is simply to hear about a price drop and decide later, ask for an alert instead. That leaves the final buying decision with you after you see the new price.

This distinction matters more on expensive purchases, where you may want to compare the new price with other offers before ordering. Our electronics price guide covers that broader comparison, while these online price checking strategies are useful for purchases outside Amazon too.

Outside trackers are another option

Third party Amazon price trackers also exist. Camelcamelcamel is a free Amazon price tracking website founded in 2008, while the Keepa Price Tracker iOS listing says its app provides price history charts plus price drop and availability alerts after you set a desired price. ^{[5] [6]}

These are examples rather than the only choices. If you want to compare price tracking tools, see our CamelCamelCamel alternatives page before choosing one.

Whatever service you use, treat an alert as notice that a condition has been met, not as proof that the price cannot fall further. Price history tells you what happened before, and a target price reflects what you are willing to pay.

What Today Coupon List offers instead

Today Coupon List does not track individual products for you or send personal alerts when a specific item’s price reaches a target. Instead, we publish Amazon price drops we find and new deals today so you can browse recent offers.

The free Daily Coupons app can send deal notifications and expiry reminders for deals you have saved. It does not provide individual product price tracking, so use Amazon’s own price alert tools or a dedicated tracker if that is the feature you need.