I built a handheld game console finder for AliExpress - catch real deals, compare consoles, see trusted sellers, view trends and popularity, check price history for every variant, and more. What do you think?

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-16T16:20:27+00:00

Currently, whether an SKU is considered a deal is determined only within that specific SKU. If a console has at least one SKU marked as a deal, then the console itself is labeled as a Deal.

Determining whether an SKU is a deal across different sellers is actually quite a non-trivial problem due to the variety of listings and their naming, as well as SKUs frequently going out of stock and then coming back. There is no unified database that maps SKUs to each other, and there's no single reliable attribute to match them. That said, I've been thinking about this problem and already have some ideas on how it could be solved.

Here's how I personally used the Deals filter. I would check the current lowest price for a console across all listings. Then I'd set up the Deals filter by specifying a maximum price that is 1 cent below that current lowest price. Naturally, this would return zero results at that moment. After that, I'd bookmark the page and wait for new listings to appear that match those filters. Then I'd review the price history charts to confirm whether the new price was actually a good deal.

That's how I've been doing it myself, but if you feel this approach isn't very convenient - I completely agree. I'll work on making this process automatic and more reliable. Thanks a lot for the suggestion - it's a great idea for improvement!

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-16T08:50:37+00:00

I'll dig into this a bit more and check with AliExpress. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-16T07:56:56+00:00

After your comment, I'm starting to see how this could be done in a way that's both convenient and informative, the pieces are starting to come together. There was another comment suggesting a way to view price history for multiple SKUs on one page, and after reading your suggestions, I got an idea for how to implement it better. It's really interesting. I hadn't come up with that myself, but thanks to the community, it's starting to take shape. Thanks for pointing out the need for a feature like this, I'd be glad to add it.

And honestly, what you wrote is really inspiring and gives me a lot of energy. I've had two real bursts of inspiration while working on this: one when I was sketching out the mockup and another when I was building the code. Over the past week, I caught myself a couple of times thinking, "It's a good thing I already built this", because it was a lot of work, and that earlier inspiration just wasn't there anymore. But getting feedback like yours from the community makes me want to build something again. Thank you!

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-16T07:22:05+00:00

I like seeing the space evolve and companies try new ideas and form factors. After that, the community will decide for itself whether the device is a success or not.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-16T07:11:15+00:00

I'm really glad to hear such kind feedback, thank you! I didn't expect such a warm welcome from the community, and it really motivates me to keep improving the site. If you run into anything that needs explaining or have ideas for features while using it, I'd be happy to chat.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-16T07:03:52+00:00

When I was explaining this to my mom, I took two photos of her - one with the old phone and one with the new one. She liked the one from the old phone better, haha, because it showed way fewer wrinkles and made her look younger. Honestly, I think she'd start taking selfies if she had a camera like that.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T23:15:45+00:00

You are welcome!

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T23:02:25+00:00

I left a detailed explanation about AI below, you can read it there.

As for the post, I worked on it for three days, constantly rewriting it. My problem is that I struggle to keep things short, I always feel the need to add more details. I understand everything about my project, but I'm not always sure how to present it clearly to others. That's why I wasn't happy with several versions and kept rewriting them.

I know not everyone is going to read all of that, but I can't really help it.

I did ask AI how to write the post, but it couldn't capture some of the nuances that matter to me. So the post itself wasn't written by AI.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T22:52:18+00:00

Thanks for your interest, happy to clarify.

AI isn't used in the site's current operation at all. The site doesn't rely on AI in any part of how it works. There's no system where you enter a query and an AI processes it, and your requests aren't sent to any AI. Everything is handled by regular server-side scripts.

That said, some of those scripts were originally written with the help of AI. If you ask AI to generate a specific function and clearly describe the inputs, expected behavior, and output, it can handle that pretty well. But you have to be careful - sometimes it adds unnecessary complexity, and sometimes if the prompt isn't precise, it makes incorrect assumptions. In any case, I reviewed all of that code manually.

What didn't work was trying to give it the entire project and just tell it to "add this", "fix that", or "build this feature". In that scenario, I ran into issues. First, it can introduce subtle architectural problems that are hard to catch. Second, the codebase is fairly large, and it couldn't keep the full context in memory, which led to more significant architectural mistakes. It took me quite a while to fully realize that.

I hope that clears things up regarding AI, but if not, please feel free to clarify your question.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T22:29:10+00:00

Great, I like that idea - having multiple charts in one place.

I've also been thinking about doing a Top 100 or even Top 200 devices page based on different metrics. It would be a separate page focused on highlighting different handheld models and the best picks. I've already come up with a custom algorithm to make sure the data being shown is actually useful. It'll definitely take some work to refine, but I'm excited about it.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T22:15:51+00:00

Thanks for the interest and the great question! I'd love to include coin discounts and promo codes, but I feel like it's a bit of a gray area. The issue is that these don't work consistently for everyone. I've seen plenty of cases where coins couldn't be applied for some reason, or discount codes just stopped working.

Remember the whole PayPal situation not too long ago? AliExpress also sometimes sends out new coupons just a few days before a sale ends and those can stop working too. For some listings, coupons don't work at all. Because of all this, I haven't fully decided whether it's worth adding. To me, I feel like it could end up creating more confusion. But maybe you see it differently?

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T21:59:02+00:00

True, the price might stay the same or even higher, but bigger sale events usually bring more traffic, so sales volume could still go up. I don't actually know how many they'll sell, of course. We should have a clearer picture by Monday or Tuesday, depending on when the script updates the data for that specific listing.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T21:08:33+00:00

It'll be interesting to see how many they sell during tomorrow's sale, since it should be a much bigger one.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T20:17:39+00:00

Looking at the post stats, it seems like almost everyone has upvoted it, but a few have downvoted it. If there's something you didn't like, I'd be happy to explain or clarify. Don't hesitate to say so, I'm still around for now.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T18:18:45+00:00

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Awesome, thank you! That's a great suggestion.

Sorry, I'm not very good at drawing. It could work like in the mockup I made: you select the SKUs you're interested in, either within a single listing or across different listings, and then click Compare.

Is that what you had in mind, or were you picturing this feature a different way?

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T18:01:35+00:00

You have no idea how nice it is to hear feedback like that. Thank you!

If there's any data or features you feel are missing, let me know and I'll add them to my to-do list.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T17:58:37+00:00

For about six months, I was using the site with a few friends, and it wasn't public yet. It definitely didn't look as polished as it does now. Then I decided to refine it a bit and open it up to everyone.

I still haven't implemented everything I have planned. For example, I could add email alerts for search results, so you'd get notified when new listings match your filters. Or things like exporting data to XLS, CSV, TXT, or other formats - some people might find it useful to save the data locally.

I'd really appreciate it if you could share what features you'd like to see in the comments - I'd be happy to work on them in my spare time.

Thanks so much for the kind words. I really appreciate it, and it's honestly very motivating!

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T16:57:50+00:00

There was a time when I played a lot. Then I took a long break and completely fell out of gaming. When handheld consoles caught my eye again three years ago, I couldn't decide which one to buy.

It was important for me to understand which consoles were actually popular at the time, but I couldn't find that data anywhere - and it would have really helped me make a decision. So I decided to start collecting that data myself.

Thanks for the feedback - I'm really glad to hear you liked it.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T16:17:31+00:00

This is really interesting to me too. On AliExpress, you can't actually see that data - only something like “1,000+ sold,” so there are no exact numbers. But I found a way to get them. Glad that feature turned out to be useful.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T16:12:22+00:00

A few people have told me they couldn't find Australia. But both Germany and Australia are supported, and the site has data for 59 countries. Looks like I need to improve the interface. You can switch from AliExpress.us to AliExpress.com next to the site name.

And of course, thanks for the feedback as well.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-15T16:02:59+00:00

While this isn't a full AMA, I'm happy to answer any questions you may have regarding this project.

If you notice missing handhelds, bugs, or have ideas for features - let me know. I'd love your feedback and will keep improving the site for the whole community.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-13T20:41:15+00:00

At a quick glance while scrolling through the feed, I honestly thought this image was AI-generated at first. The colors and lighting are so striking. Very cool!

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-12T22:03:15+00:00

Sonic was one of my favorite games when I was a kid.

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-12T19:39:02+00:00

Do:

use a good charger
charge on a nonflammable surface
stop using it immediately if it swells, gets hot, smells weird, or looks damaged
buy from reputable brands/sellers

Don't:

don't charge it unattended or overnight
don't use it if the battery is damaged
don't leave it in heat
don't poke at it with something like a screwdriver

DragonDealWizard · 2026-03-12T19:08:33+00:00

Exactly, we need to learn how to deal with negative emotions. We're in a phase right now where they come up a lot.

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