Trying to locate coronavirus-combating essentials like wipes and hand sanitizer? You’re not the only one. Here are some websites that can help you find out if and when supplies are back in stock.
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New: Coronavirus Preparedness Supply Finder
This simple website tracks the availability of essentials including hand soap, hand sanitizer, paper towels, toilet paper, tissues and wipes by checking inventory at Amazon, Target and Walmart. It’s super simple and easy to use – if an item is in stock, it’s highlighted and in color. If it’s not, it is in black and white and says “Out of Stock.”
The website seems to be quite accurate although by the time you click through to the actual item it could already be sold out. That’s just because so many people are tracking these things at the same time. However, I can attest that I was able to add Lysol wipes to my Walmart cart after seeing them displayed as available.
Supply Finder was created by Boston-based tech company Popcart. It also helps you avoid price gouging by alerting you with a warning when prices are high compared to historical averages.
Normally, this site is helping folks find things like hot video games and must have toys. These days, it has pages dedicated to hand sanitizer and household cleaners like Clorox wipes.
You can see a list of items, if they’re in stock and the last time they were actually in stock.
Be sure to turn on the toggle for an “in stock alarm” and your web browser will notify you when something is back in stock. Note that you’ll have to keep the page open for this to work.
I was able to nab some hand sanitizer from Amazon using this method. I’ll let you know if and when I actually get my shipment, but the order did go through and after a minute or two, the item was already out of stock again.
BrickSeek has inventory checkers for Walmart, Target, Staples, CVS and more.
The site actually started as a way for LEGO collectors to locate hard to find sets. Now, it can help you determine is a local store has an item in stock.
It’s a little tricky to navigate since you must look up items by their SKU instead of a standard name search, but the site helps you figure out the SKU number for the item you want.
Google can help you find in stock items at stores near you. Just type in a search term, make sure you select the Shopping results, then hit the option for “available nearby.”
Just keep in mind, inventory counts aren’t always accurate, so it’s best to cross-reference your results with the store’s actual website before you drive over or place an order.
A startup called Markk has created an Emergency Supply Finder to help you track down tough to find supplies. Think Instagram stories plotted on a map.
“Markk is a visual review platform, so you review places just using photos and videos. Any review you post to the app just lasts for 24 hours,” explained cofounder Sunil Mohan.
Users can post pictures and videos showing the real time availability of essentials at nearby stores. The app is brand new so the user base is still limited, but the potential is there.
“Especially now, in a time like this, we would love for the community to adopt it more and help each other. Ultimately, this is about creating live information that helps each other and being better members of the community,” said Mohan.
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