Honest answer · Updated August 2026

Madealert is faster. We are not metered

Madealert sends alerts within seconds of a new listing appearing, beating our hourly check by a wide margin. It caps free users at 10 active alerts. FindersKeepers checks hourly but doesn't cap how many searches you save, and adds valuation on top.

The short version

  1. 01

    Madealert checks continuously and alerts within seconds, on the free plan and the paid plans alike. Speed isn't the thing you pay for; alert capacity is.

  2. 02

    The free plan caps you at 10 active alerts. Beyond that you need a paid plan.

  3. 03

    FindersKeepers checks once an hour, slower, but doesn't cap how many saved searches you run, on the one free tier.

  4. 04

    Neither tool does both things: Madealert doesn't score whether a price is good, and we don't alert within seconds.

01 · Credit where it is due

What Madealert actually does, and does well

The per-alert filtering is genuinely more granular than ours, and the speed claim holds even on the free tier.

A

Sub-minute alerts, free tier included

Continuous scanning, alerts within seconds of a match. We check hourly.

B

Exclude-keyword filtering

Cut specific words out of your results per alert. We have no keyword-exclusion filter.

C

Full eBay US + Motors catalog

Covers eBay Motors alongside the standard catalog. We don't distinguish Motors as a separate scope.

D

Choice of email, push, or both

Delivery is user-selectable per alert through their app. We send both, but don't let you turn either off individually per search.

02 · The real question

What the meter costs you

  • 01

    10 alerts, free. If you're sourcing across more categories than that, you're either paying or picking which searches matter most.

  • 02

    Speed alone doesn't tell you the price is good. A second-fast alert on an overpriced listing just gets you to the overpriced listing faster.

  • 03

    No price history. Nothing to show you whether what you're watching has been trending up or down.

Madealert answers "did something new get listed, right now." It doesn't answer "is this actually worth buying at this price."

03 · What we add

Where FindersKeepers picks up

01

No alert cap

Save as many searches as you want on the one free tier. No 10-alert wall, no paid plan to unlock more.

02

Deal scoring

Listings are compared against similar ones in the same results. Twenty percent or more below the average asking price is a hot deal, ten to twenty percent below is a good price, and it needs at least five comparable listings first.

03

Price history on what you watch

Add an item to your watchlist and the price is recorded every six hours from that point on.

04

Collection value tracking

Roll up what a group of items is worth over time, not just whether a single listing appeared.

04 · Coverage

What each one covers

This table is about what each one covers, not which one wins.
FeatureMadealertFindersKeepers
Free check speedSeconds!Hourly
Free active-alert limit10No limit
Paid tierYesMore alert capacity, same speedNo paid tier at any price
Exclude-keyword filteringYesNo
Alert deliveryEmail, push, or both, per alertEmail + browser push
eBay Motors coverageYes!Not distinguished
Price history on watched itemsNoYesFrom the day you add an item
Tells you if a price is a good dealNoYesScored against similar asking prices
Collection value trackingNoYes
05 · The decision

Which one do you need

Use Madealert if

  • You're watching 10 or fewer specific things and speed is everything.
  • You need to exclude specific keywords from a search.
  • You buy eBay Motors parts and want that scope covered explicitly.

Use FindersKeepers if

  • You're running more than 10 searches and don't want to pay for it.
  • You want to know if a price is actually good, not just new.
  • You want price history or collection value tracking.
  • Hourly is fast enough for what you're sourcing.

For a genuinely time-critical listing, Madealert's free tier beats us outright on speed. Run both if the ten-alert cap doesn't bother you.

06 · The limits

What FindersKeepers does not do

  • 01

    We check hourly, not within seconds. On a listing that sells in the first few minutes, Madealert gets there first.

  • 02

    No keyword-exclusion filter, and no per-seller exclusion list.

  • 03

    Our deal score uses asking prices, meaning what comparable listings are currently listed at, not what they sold for.

  • 04

    It searches eBay US only.

07 · Questions

Common questions

Is Madealert free?

The free plan includes up to 10 active alerts, no card required. Paid plans raise that alert count; the free and paid tiers check at the same speed, the difference is how many alerts you can run at once.

How fast are Madealert's alerts compared to FindersKeepers?

Madealert alerts within seconds of a new listing appearing, on both free and paid plans. FindersKeepers re-runs saved searches once an hour. If speed on a single listing is what matters most, Madealert's free tier wins that outright.

Can I exclude keywords or sellers with Madealert?

You can exclude keywords per alert. FindersKeepers doesn't support excluding keywords or specific sellers; it only filters by a minimum seller feedback threshold.

Does Madealert track price history or valuation?

No. It's an alert tool: it tells you a matching listing appeared. It doesn't track how a price moved over time and doesn't score whether an asking price is good relative to similar listings.

Which one should I use?

If you're watching one or two specific things and want to know the second they're listed, Madealert's free tier is genuinely faster than us. If you're running more than 10 searches, or want to know whether the price is good and not just new, that's where FindersKeepers picks up.

Madealert wins on speed, FindersKeepers wins on not metering you. The full roundup of free eBay deal-hunting tools covers where each tool in this space actually fits.

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Hourly alerts, price history, and a read on whether a listing is priced well. No credit card, no eBay login, no alert cap.

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eBay is a trademark of eBay Inc. Madealert is a product of its respective owner. FindersKeepers is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by either company.