In this economy, everyone is looking for a good deal. Startup TinkOmatic (currently in private beta) allows deal-hunting consumers to search and track classifieds or auction sites for multiple items at once, all in one location. Tracking classifieds on Craigslist or deals on Ebay can be overwhelming and tedious to consumers and TinkOmatic is hoping to provide an easier way to view these listings (The first 500 readers to enter the code “techcrunch” will get access to the beta).
The search aggregator application allows users to find items on Oodle, Kijiji, Ebay and Craigslist (Which opens in a new window). TinkOmatic also allows users to add RSS feeds from Trulia, Google Base and others to track items, jobs, apartments and cars. The results from each site are displayed in separate panes, a.ka. TinkBoxes, within the page. The user can access the site-specific searches (on Ebay or Craigslist) by clicking on the corresponding TinkBox. Searches can be limited by both location (TinkOmatic offers over 20 geographic locations) and by type of item. All searches can be saved and refreshed whenever the user accesses TinkOmatic. The site also enables people to create advanced search filters within their RSS readers and TinkOmatic searches featured on the site.
Here’s a instructional video about the site:
One economy-relevant feature is the ability to hunt for jobs, track listings and have the job searches updated each time a user logs in to the site. And of course, it’s a useful tool to organize updated multiple classified and auction searches in one area. In theory, it’s sort of similar to Trackle, NotifyMe and Yotify, except devoted to a concentrated area. On the downside, TinkOmatic’s interface is fairly basic and could be spruced up to offer more features like email alerts. But it’s certainly a good start.
