A script to find a bargain?

March 23, 2007 12:33 PM

Is there a script that can help me optimize used book and dvd shipping expenditures on half.com, or can this be accomplished elsewhere?

I would like to run something that will tell me if a seller has more than one item out of my wish list, so I can enjoy combined or discounted shipping savings.

Alternately, is there some other used book and dvd resource out there with combinable shipping as well as good selection?

I'm running Firefox.

I buy a lot of used paperbacks and dvds, some priced lower than the usual shipping fee. Amazon's private sellers don't offer a break on multiple item shipping.

posted by Ambrosia Voyeur to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

I've not seen a site, script, or extension which exactly matches what you want, though there are tantalizingly related items, and perhaps someone else here may yet post a perfect fit. However, lacking a suitable site or prebuilt script, there might still be a solution.

For one, you can request new scripts in the forums of the recently revitalized userscripts.org site, one of the main repositories of public Greasemonkey-compatible scripts. In your favor, your request is a reasonably close miss to one of the most popular Greasemonkey scripts ever created, Book Burro. Book Burro is now a browser extension in its own right, but script source remains available and has been modified by other users for various purposes. Given the presence of Book Burro and a couple of existing scripts for eBay's half.com site, there is a decent chance of your request drumming up interest in the script development community.

Or, another alternative presents. By happenstance, I have been working on an eBay script which combines information on several site pages for custom filtering purposes. Progress has been slow due to my inbred laziness and lack of motivation. Repurposing and finishing my current script to fit your requirements dovetails with several items on the script's to-do list. Plus, your request fills my two main free script development requirements of being both useful to myself and to the general public.

If you find no other solution and are interested, let me know. You gain a script, I gain motivation to complete half-programmed parts of a useful filter.
posted by mdevore at 12:14 AM on March 24, 2007

Response by poster: thanks, mdevore!!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 9:48 PM on March 24, 2007