Amazon has introduced a very useful feature. Right next to the price on an item is a blue “Price history” button. Clicking on that gives you a chart of the item’s price over time. Most inexpensive items don’t change, but more expensive items (like a power tool) can show drastic variations in price. If an item has had a lower price in the past you might want to wait to see if it drops again. So Amazon gives you the option to set up a price alert to get notified when it drops to your target price. If you are sure you want it at that price and are willing to wait, you can also set it to automatically purchase it at that price so you don’t miss it. I used to use CamelCamelCamel to do all this with Amazon, but this native function is much slicker and easier. In my experience, if you are willing to wait, an item will usually return to its lowest price sooner or later, and that can be a good bargain. — KK

I’ve been burned by buying a “buy-it-for-life” brand only to discover the company and the logo were sold years ago. Worse on Purpose rates 215 brands — tools, bags, apparel, eyewear, and footwear — as either Approved, Watchlist, Former Great, or Avoid. A sample: Ray-Ban is designated “Avoid” (“Priced as luxury, produced to commodity standards”). Another example: Peak Design is designated “Approved”, (because it is still founder-owned). — MF

My wife and I go to the movies at least once a week, and AMC Stubs A-List has been a fantastic deal for us. For $27.99/month (going up $2 starting July 15), you can see up to 4 movies per week at any AMC theater — and it doesn’t matter what format: standard, Dolby Cinema, IMAX, Prime, laser, or even the lounge-chair theaters. All are included. You also get free online reservations with no booking fees. If you have an AMC near you and enjoy movies, this will save you a lot of money. — MF

We launched a free daily email newsletter called Recomendo Deals that alerts you when products we’ve previously recommended in Recomendo and Cool Tools drop to unusually low prices. Here’s how it works: Every day, the system checks thousands of products we’ve recommended over the years against Keepa, a service that tracks Amazon price history. When a product falls 20% or more below its 90-day average price, or hits an all-time low, it surfaces as a deal. These aren’t random products — they’re things we’ve already vetted and recommended. I’ve already purchased a few items myself. It literally takes 20 seconds to scan the 5 to 10 deals that show up each day, and most days there’s nothing I need. But occasionally, something I’ve had my eye on drops to a great price. Give it a try by subscribing here. — MF

Rather than trashing my old stuff, I like to find a new home for it, selling it or giving it away for free. The real action for used stuff has moved away from Craigslist to Facebook Marketplace. (The broadest reach is on eBay, but everything needs to be packaged for shipping.) Facebook Marketplace is the best for local and bulky things. It is a lot easier to use than Craigslist, and in my experience has 10 times the responses (for selling) or varieties (for buying). It is free to use. If you have patience you can find almost anything you want on Facebook Marketplace used, or get rid of almost anything you want with minimal hassle. — KK

I created a searchable archive of every product we've recommended in Recomendo and our other newsletters since 2020. The database includes thousands of items (with photos) that you can filter by category, date, or keyword. Want to see all the knives we've reviewed? Just type "knife" in the search field. This makes it easy to browse our entire review history or find specific recommendations. The site is ready to explore, though I'm open to suggestions for improvements. — MF

Sacred Source is a treasure trove of sacred images, traditional deities, and spiritual statues. It is my go-to source for buying hand-crafted devotional artifacts for my altar. They have such a diverse range of statues, honoring both ancient cultures and modern spirituality. As a small company dedicated to supporting artisan families, every purchase feels like a meaningful choice. — CD

Stumbling upon iheartbookstores.com reminded me of the value of purchasing books in person rather than simply clicking “buy now” online. The map on the site currently lists more than 6,000 independent bookstores across the U.S. Recently, I was about to buy a used book on eBay when I noticed that the seller was Recycle Bookstore in San Jose, CA, just a couple of miles from me. I decided to drive there and buy it in person instead. Of course, I ended up finding more books to buy and remembered how much I love the serendipity and magic of physical bookstores. — CD

I recently discovered Spoken.io, a website that reveals the practice of "white-labeling" in the furniture and home decor industry. White-labeling is when the same generic product is sold by multiple retailers under different brand names and prices. Spoken.io tracks items from over 100 stores, making it easy to compare prices for identical products across retailers like West Elm, Pottery Barn, and Crate & Barrel. The price differences can be substantial, so if you're furnishing a home, it's worth checking out to ensure you're getting the best deal. — MF

Propstore.com consigns and sells entertainment memorabilia, like props, costumes, posters and other collectibles, through both Live and Online Auctions. I have not purchased or bid on anything (yet), but I enjoy browsing the website for doses of nostalgia. This weekend there is a live auction of rare and collectible posters, and I pinned some of them for design inspiration. — CD 

When I’m using Instagram, I get served quite a few ads for electronic gadgets and kitchen tools. If I see something I’m interested in buying, I don’t buy it from the advertiser, because they are a dropshipper who marks up the price by a factor of five or more. Instead, I go to AliExpress and search for the product there. That’s where the dropshippers go to find products and the prices are much cheaper. — MF

If you’re like me and have soured on Etsy, here’s a brand new handmade marketplace to keep in mind: Artisans Co-op. It just launched so I can’t vouch for any of the products, but I have been following their updates and “phases” and I appreciate their transparency and integrity. Their community vision is fair tech, not big tech, which is why they are member-owned by artisans. As of right now they have 65 shops and more than 1000 handmade items, and each day the selection keeps growing. — CD 

BuyItForLife is a subreddit where people recommend and discuss high quality products that last a lifetime. This website is a ChatGPT interface that lets you ask questions about everything that’s ever been mentioned in the subreddit. Here are the results it gave me when I asked for the best spinner luggage. — MF

The best online source for used books is BookFinder. Its bare bones design is unchanged from 1997 and feels like a Craigslist for books. It’s an aggregated meta-search engine that simultaneously looks for a book on Amazon, Ebay, Abe, Alibris, Bibio, and 100,000 indie booksellers. It will find all copies available and arrange them by price, and supply the link for purchase from the source. (In other countries and languages it is known as JustBooks.) It reliably yields the least expensive option for a used book. — KK

There’s a guy on YouTube who does the most thorough and insanely complete testing of tools I’ve ever seen. He test to the breaking point up to a dozen variants of one tool (say cordless chainsaws), including the cheapest and the most expensive, to see which one is actually best. His channel, Project Farm, is sort of a one-man Consumer Reports, only better. This year he rounded up his best results into one video he calls The Top 10 Products of 2022. — KK

Our Cool Tools Lab colleague Camille Hartsell put together a holiday wishlist of unique writing instruments and other crafty things. I really want this “fine line” painting pen and this hardcover journal with super thick paper. — CD

This article “How to become a truly excellent gift giver” has some great advice for gift-giving, including 3 questions to consider when gift-giving. “Can I introduce someone to something they might not otherwise know about? Can I get them a nicer version of something than they would buy for themselves? Or can I make them feel seen?” Another helpful trip is to write a mini-bio of the recipient to help you hone in on their enthusiasms and interests. — CD

I made my holiday gift wish list for Cool Tools. This year instead of selecting the best tools we discovered in the past 12 months, we are listing cool stuff we desire. So contrary to our usual process, we have no idea if what we wish for is actually any good. My wish list is here. If you have opinions about what I am wishing for, add them in the comments. — KK

This year on my holiday wishlist are 6 objects to improve my work-life balance, which includes a new machine-washable rug for my home office and desk chair, some tools to alleviate stress and glow-in-the-dark temporary tattoos — just for fun. Check it out here. — CD

Gem is a search engine for vintage and used clothing and jewelry. You can quickly search eBay, Etsy, Poshmark, TheRealReal, and more, and the results are displayed in a large gallery view with prices to save time. You can also set email alerts for hard-to-find items. — CD