How it works
From a shopper's question to a number you can use
Wantscope looks for people asking which product to buy, checks that they really mean it, and counts them each week. Here's each step, and what we do and don't do with the posts.
- 1
We read public posts every hour
Wantscope searches public posts for people asking which product to buy, in 20 shopping categories, from headphones to strollers.
- 2
An AI model checks who's really buying
Each post gets a buying-intent score. Sellers promoting their own products, news and chatter are left out, so only real asks count.
- 3
You see what's rising
The report counts the asks in each category over the last 7 days, compares them with the week before, and marks what's rising.
What counts as an ask
Counts
- "Which laptop should I buy for school?"
- "Can anyone recommend a good stroller for city walks?"
- "Looking for a quiet office chair under $300."
Doesn't count
- A shop announcing its new headphones
- News about a phone launch
- A long debate about which camera brand is best
The numbers on the report
Asks, 7 days
How many posts in the last 7 days asked which product to buy in that category.
vs week before
The change against the 7 days before that. "New" means there were none the week before.
Rising
At least 50% more asks than the week before, and at least 3 more. It points to a category worth a closer look.
A category shows numbers once it has 5 asks in 7 days. Each category page also shows the last 8 weeks and links to the latest asks, so you can read what people are asking for.
Where the posts come from
Public posts on Hacker News, and on Bluesky when it's switched on. We search them every hour with phrases like "best headphones or earbuds" and "which laptop should I buy". We leave out Reddit and X because of their licensing terms and costs.
What we never do
- We never keep or show the text of a post or the name of who wrote it. We keep a link, the time and the score.
- We never send shoppers' posts to sellers, and no one is contacted because of what they posted.
- We never sell or share our email list.
Get the report every Monday
One email with what shoppers asked for most, what's rising and what's cooling off.