Neat Trick to Save Money at Amazon (While Protecting Your Privacy)
Shop smarter, protect your inbox, and get real deals using this privacy-friendly trick
Anyone have an Amazon.com account?
Chances are you do. And most users are missing out on an easy way to save on big ticket items.
Prices on Amazon fluctuate constantly. Sometimes by just a few bucks, sometimes by a lot. That air fryer, monitor stand, or suitcase you just bought? It might drop in price tomorrow. Or next week.
That’s why price-tracking tools like CamelCamelCamel.com can be useful. You set your ideal price, and the site notifies you when the item drops.
One downside is these tools often ask for your email address, which means your data could be harvested, sold, or used for targeting later.
But today’s tip isn’t just about saving money. It’s about doing it privately.
We did record a video walking through how to do everything in this video. If you want to skip to that, go here.
🛒 What Is CamelCamelCamel?
If you’ve never heard of it, CamelCamelCamel is a “free” Amazon price tracker. Here’s what it does:
Tracks historical prices of Amazon products
Shows you price trends over time (helping you spot real vs fake discounts)
Lets you set a price alert for when the item drops below a certain amount
Sends you an email notification when your alert is triggered
It’s a simple way to save money. Probably not for small ticket items, but it’s great on big purchases you don’t need to buy immediately.
✉️ But Be Careful with Your Email
Here’s the catch: CamelCamelCamel requires an email address to send alerts.
And while the service itself doesn’t seem sketchy, giving out your real email increases the risk of:
Getting added to marketing lists
Being tracked or profiled
Having your email sold or leaked
Luckily, there’s a fix, and it’s easy.
🛡 Use a Disposable Email Alias (Here’s How)
Regular readers know we’re super fans of disposable email addresses (a/k/a temporary or alias addresses). And CamelCamelCamel is a great use case for them.
Instead of handing over your personal email, you can generate a disposable email alias. These are unique addresses that forward messages to your real inbox, without exposing your identity.
You still get the alert, but CamelCamelCamel (or any third-party tool) never sees your real address.
Great options to try:
🥷 SimpleLogin: Unlimited aliases, free plan, open source
🦆 DuckDuckGo Email Protection: Free
@duck.comaddresses👤 AnonAddy: Great for advanced users
All of them let you disable or delete an alias at any time. So if it starts receiving spam, just nuke it.
🔔 How to Set a Price Alert Privately
Follow these steps to save money with CamelCamelCamel.com without exposing your real identity:
Go to CamelCamelCamel.com
Paste in the Amazon URL or search for the product.Check the price history
View how the price has fluctuated over time.Create a disposable email alias
Use a service like SimpleLogin or DuckDuckGo to generate a temporary address.Set your alert
Enter your target price and your alias email address.Watch your inbox
You’ll get a private alert when the price drops with minimal data exposure.
✅ Why This Works
This approach gives you:
Real savings on Amazon
No spam or marketing emails
Zero exposure of your personal data
And it’s a great example of how to use the internet on your terms. You still get the benefit of powerful tools without handing over your digital identity in the process.
🚀 Privacy Mindset Upgrade
By setting up price alerts the privacy-friendly way, you’re not just saving money. You’re thinking like a privacy pro.
You’re learning to question what information you really need to give away and what you can keep to yourself.
And once you see how easy this is, you’ll start applying the same thinking everywhere else you browse, shop, or sign up.
That’s the quiet confidence of someone who shops smart and protects their privacy.
Here’s a video we created walking you through how to do all this.
💥 P.S. If you found this post helpful, please restack it and share it with your friends, family and audience.
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Disclaimer: None of the above is to be deemed legal advice of any kind. These are *opinions* written by a privacy attorney with 15+ years of working for, with and against Big Tech and Big Data. And this post is for informational purposes only and is not intended for use in furtherance of any unlawful activity.
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