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Which stores Shopping checks, including specialty stores

Shopping 2 min read Intermediate Updated

Shopping is not part of 4MachineLearning. It runs on 4search.com. You can read this guide here, and use Shopping on 4search.com.
On this page
  1. How stores are chosen
  2. Who answered
  3. Amazon
  4. Common questions

Shopping does not ask every store for every search. It asks the big general stores, plus the stores that specialize in what you are looking for: a search for socks asks sock makers, a search for headphones asks audio shops. That keeps the results relevant and the wait short.

#How stores are chosen

  • General stores, the big retailers that sell a bit of everything, are asked for most searches.
  • Stores that fit the subject are added according to your words. Shopping knows what each store sells (electronics, fashion, outdoor gear, home, beauty, pets, tools and so on) and asks a handful whose line matches.
  • Specialty stores, makers and shops that sell one line, such as socks, rings, watches, fly fishing or model trains, large and small, are asked when your words name their line.
Results for wool hiking socks: the line of stores includes sock makers and outdoor shops beside the big retailers, and the cards show offers from those specialty stores

Wool hiking socks: sock makers and outdoor stores answer beside the general retailers.

  1. 1Stores that specialize in what you searched for are asked too
  2. 2An offer from a specialty store

The more precisely you name the kind of thing you want, the better the specialists match: merino wool socks reaches more sock specialists than gift for a hiker.

#Who answered

The line above the cards lists the stores whose prices you see, with the time they were checked: "Prices from Columbia, Gap, Thorlo, Stance… as of 12:44 AM ET." When a store was asked but could not be reached in time, the line says so: "Lowe's did not answer this time." Search again a little later and it may answer.

#Amazon

Under the results, See results for "…" on Amazon opens Amazon's own search page for your words, where you see Amazon's prices on Amazon's site.

#Common questions

Why is my favorite store missing from the results?

It may not have been asked for this search, because your words did not match what it sells; it may not have answered in time; or it may not be one of the stores Shopping can check. Try more specific words, or search again later.

Are specialty stores trustworthy?

They are shops and makers selling under their own names, but Shopping does not vouch for any seller. Check the store's reviews, shipping and return terms before you buy, as you would with any shop you do not know.

Read next

Shopping Search Shopping and read the results What to type in Shopping, how offers are grouped into products, and what each part of a product card means, from price to the store rating. Shopping A product's prices at each store The comparison page lists every store's offer for one product: price, shipping, total, condition and when it was checked, cheapest new first. Shopping Shopping: compare store prices in one search One search checks many stores at once, groups the same product together and shows each store's price, shipping and condition; you buy on the store's own site. Shopping How fresh the prices are, and what to do when a store's price differs Every price says when it was checked. Here is what that time means, why a store's own price can differ, and what to do before you buy.