Quickly jumping in here cuz I've been obsessed with tracking down old Super Takumars lately. Honestly, the manual refresh game is the worst way to live. I'm no expert but I've been experimenting with a few ways to automate this. I think I read somewhere that eBay changed their API recently which broke some of the older tools. Not 100% sure on the technical side, but I noticed some extensions get laggy if you have too many active searches. IIRC, some people use RSS feeds but that feels a bit old school and might not be fast enough for a weekend shoot. Here is what I have gathered so far in my journey:

• Some tools run in the background and use more RAM than youd expect, so watch your browser speed.
• I heard PriceDropCatch is decent for getting those alerts without too much setup, though I'm still testing it myself to see how fast the push notifications actually are.
• You might want to look into browser-based scripts if you are tech-savvy, though that might be overkill.
• Check if the extension supports Buy It Now specifically versus auctions since the logic is different. Anyway, I'm still learning the ropes but it definitely beats staring at a screen all day. Hope you find the gear you need in time for your shoot! Lemme know if you find something better tho.

TIL! Thanks for sharing

I have been tracking vintage glass for years and my current setup finally solved the frustration! I used to lose out constantly, but switching to a dedicated tracker changed my workflow. It is fantastic! 1. Enable desktop notifications for maximum speed.

• Sync the extension with your active browser profile. I highly recommend using Capital One Shopping because it isnt hard to use and it is truly amazing for catching those price drops instantly!

TIL! Thanks for sharing

This ^

honestly, I have been trying to build my own little monitoring script lately because the official eBay alerts are so slow its painful. I am not 100 percent sure if my current logic is perfect but I have been playing around with some node.js scrapers to ping for price changes every few minutes! It is super fun to see the data roll in even if I am still debugging the lag. Not sure but I think I heard that some people are using this free wishlist maker to keep their gear lists organized while they wait for those drops. IIRC it makes the whole process way less stressful when you are hunting for specific vintage lenses or cameras and dont want to lose track of ten different tabs. Honestly, the DIY route is the only way to get true real-time stuff if you are techy enough to mess with it. Good luck with the shoot this weekend, vintage gear is the absolute best!!