Quick answer
How do I see the price shoppers get in another US city?
Load the public product page through a residential IP in that city, with the store or ZIP the site picks for local shoppers. With MetroProxies (from $0.50/GB, October 2026), use -city- and -zip- segments, keep one sticky session per city, and record the store and ZIP the page shows with each price. No KYC; crypto.
Why do prices differ between US cities?
Several layers stack up:
- Store-level pricing: grocery and big-box chains price by store; the site chooses a store from your ZIP or IP.
- Delivery and fees: delivery windows, minimums and fees follow distance from a warehouse.
- Sales tax: most US sites show prices before tax; the rate at checkout changes by state and city. Our city pages give the state rate and the average combined rate (Tax Foundation, July 2026), from 0% in Oregon to 10.13% on average in Louisiana.
- Regional promotions: campaigns bought by metro area.
Record which layer you measure. A shelf price comparison should hold the store constant; a delivered-cost comparison should include fees and tax.
How do I set up a price check run?
- List the places: one ZIP code per city, well inside city limits. Each city page lists ZIP areas that lie mostly inside the city.
- One sticky session per place:
USERNAME-country-us-state-ga-city-atlanta-zip-30309-session-atl1-ttl-15, so the site keeps the same store for the whole visit. - Read the store the page chose and save it with the price; if it is not the store you expected, set it explicitly on the page if the site offers that.
- Keep it light: public pages only, no login, a few requests per minute per site, and follow robots.txt and the site's terms. Many retailers also offer official product feeds or affiliate APIs; prefer them when they exist.
- Verify the exit in a lookup service at the start of each session.
How much traffic will it use?
Product pages are heavy when fully loaded (often 3 to 8 MB with images and scripts) and light as HTML only (0.2 to 1 MB). For 200 products in 15 cities checked weekly:
- HTML only, 0.5 MB each: 200 × 15 × 0.5 MB = 1.5 GB a week, about 6 GB a month: the 10 GB plan ($5.94) lasts more than a month.
- Full browser loads, 4 MB each: 12 GB a week, about 48 GB a month: the 50 GB plan ($25.98).
Blocking images and fonts in a headless browser often cuts usage by half. Prepaid residential and rotating-mobile traffic never expires: unused GB stay on your account until you use them.
Where should I go next?
Hold one store per visit with sticky sessions by city, pick ZIP codes on proxy by ZIP code, check exits with the proxy location checker, and size your plan on the pricing page. More on the guides page.
What else do people ask about price checks?
Can I check prices behind a login?
Check public pages only. Logged-in areas are covered by account terms, and some sites forbid automated access to them. If you need data from your own seller or partner account, use the platform's official API.
Do I need a ZIP or is the city enough?
For grocery and delivery prices, use a ZIP: the store is chosen from it. For national retailers with one online price, the city or even the state is enough. ZIP-level geolocation is approximate, so read the store the page shows.
What if a site blocks my requests?
Slow down and stop: a site that refuses automated requests is telling you its rules. Use its official API or feed, or ask for permission. A different IP does not make blocked access permitted.
Sources (1)
- State and local sales tax rates, midyear 2026 — Tax Foundation (2026-10-18)