Michael Jackson

One thing to note about Michael Jackson's demise, is that sales of his music and DVDs have been going through the roof.

One thing I like to do is view top sellers in different categories. Zlert makes this straightforward. Just select a category on our home page and type "+TS" in the search box. Try that with Music or DVDs for Amazon.com. Michael Jackson related material nearly fills every slot on the top ten.

Release Date Alerts

We've just added "Release Date" alerts. You now have the option to receive an alert on the date an item is released, not just when it is available to purchase.

For example, suppose you do a search under "Books" for the author Dan Brown. Right now, you'll probably come across "The Lost Symbol", his new book, due out in the Fall.

You can purchase it now if you want (Amazon won't charge you until they ship it). Suppose though, you just want to be reminded about it when it comes out? Just select the book to set up alerts, and under "Availability changes", check the box beside "Is released".

We'll send you a reminder on the day it comes out.

You can also click on the icon to add it to your calendar.

Also, if you receive an alert from us that lists an item that will be released in the future, there will now be an additional link "Remind me when released", allowing you to set up a release date alert directly from your email.

Let us know what you think. There's a "Feedback" link at the top of virtually every page on Zlert.

I see Beingfrugal.net, a blog about saving money, recently gave a mention to Zlert in their "News of Note" section. Thanks Lynnae!

Paperback alert change

Companies that control content, such as movie, record and book companies tend to charge a premium for new releases.

For movies, they want you to watch it on the big screen. DVD and online releases come later. For books, the vehicle they use for premium pricing is the hardcover. Now hardcovers are nice n' all, they keep the pages in better shape. I don't think, though, that your average book publisher is concerned with preventing pages becoming dog-eared. It's simply a tool to charge you more for the exact same content as that in the paperback version.

Now, this model of tight control may change as these companies power is eroded by digital technologies (à la the Record companies). For example, down the road, DVDs may be released at the same time as the movie on the big screen. For now though, with books, you can pay anywhere from $5 to $12 more for the hardcover.

I enjoy reading. I do not, though, like being forced to pay more for the exact same content. I wait for the paperback. How do I know when the book becomes available in paperback? I set up a paperback alert on zlert.

We've made a change to the paperback alerts. Previously you would receive an alert when the book was available to be purchased on Amazon. In practice though, this was often well before the book was released. 5, 6 or 7 months before it actually shipped.

We think it's better to be alerted on the release date itself. Then you know the book is out and you have the option to buy it then or when you finish reading your current book. So, from now on, paperback alerts will let you know on the day the paperback is released. Happy reading!

Kindle alerts

A user recently requested that we add an alert for when the Kindle version of a book is available. We thought that was a great idea. We've just added it.

To use, simply choose a book for which there is no Kindle version yet, click on the "Set up alerts" button, and under "Availability changes", check the box to receive an alert when the Kindle version is available.

Great suggestion. Use the "Feedback" link at the top of every page on Zlert to request other alerts you'd find useful.

Search alerts improvement

We've just added the capability to set up a Search Alert even when the search does not currently return any items. Previously, you could only set up an alert when the search actually returned some results.

Why is this useful? Suppose, for example, Amazon currently doesn't stock a brand of chocolate you love. Nothing is returned when you do a search on Zlert. Now you can set up a Search Alert for the brand (remember to choose Grocery or Gourmet Food as the category to get specific results) and receive an alert as soon as Amazon sells it.

Zlert updates

Well, we've been hard at work improving the site for you. Here are some of the changes we've made:

New categories:

Amazon.com - added Shoes as separate category
Amazon.co.uk - added Clothing, updated PC & Video Game sub-categories
Amazon.ca - added Electronics
Amazon.de - added Auto (Auto & Motorrad), Clothing (Bekleidung)

With these new categories (and their sub-categories), just like the other categories, you can set up search alerts for new items matching a search and get lists of top sellers (type +TS in the search box - here's an example).

Price Alert:

We've added availability to our price alert email. This is so you know who is selling the item. Third-party sellers are listed with "Available from Amazon Marketplace Sellers". Amazon itself is listed with expected shipping time (e.g. "Usually ships in 24 hours").

For price alerts of new items, we default to looking at the Amazon price, we only look at third-party or marketplace seller prices when Amazon doesn't directly sell the item or is out of stock. Of course, for used prices we look at marketplace sellers.

Happy shopping!