Want a Better Way to Search Amazon and eBay? Try PicClick

by Adam Ostrow

Searching Amazon and eBay sometimes feels a bit archaic – the look and feel hasn’t changed all that much over the years, and the search results can be cumbersome. PicClick is a new visual search tool that looks to improve this process, offering a thumbnail view of dozens of items for a given search.

To use the service, you simply enter in a search term, a minimum/maximum price, and a zip code. PicClick will then search Amazon or eBay, presenting you a list of thumbnail pics and prices for products matching the search. Alternatively, you can browse by category, like Electronics, Home & Garden, or Sporting Goods. For more information on a product, you simply click on the thumbnail, which takes you to the respective product page on Amazon or eBay.

The site was built by Ryan Sit, the same developer who brought us ListPic, a similar tool for searching Craigslist that was shut down last year by the classifieds site. I asked him if he thought PicClick might meet a similar fate, to which he responded, “[it] shouldn’t, PicClick is an approved eBay compatible application, which means it went through some eBay certification and they checked it out. Plus eBay and Amazon both have open APIs so as far and I know this type of thing is encouraged .”

Assuming Sit is correct, PicClick is an elegant and simple tool that is more enjoyable to use than the built-in search tools on eBay and Amazon. If it’s at all successful, Sit should make a few dollars this holiday season too, as anything people buy after clicking through from PicClick will earn him referral fees through Amazon and eBay’s respective affiliate programs.