A tool for comparing eBay auction prices against those offered by online shops has been released by a British company, Buyertools.

The company's Pricepirates software is a free download that will not store any personal information from the user.

This comparison tool searches the price lists of thousands of online stores in the US, the UK and Germany, as well as auction sites such as Amazon Marketplace and eBay. Auctions the user is interested in can be monitored in a separate watchlist.

A user can even set the program to send an SMS as a reminder when any auction they have interest in is due to end.

An integrated statistics function allows a detailed analysis of price developments for single products in online auctions.

The software has tabs for eBay, online shops and Amazon Marketplace, allowing users to search for keywords in any of the three categories. It also includes the ability to add items to a list of items to be watched, or to collect statistics on searches.

The eBay section of the Pricepirates software also includes a 'bargain search' facility, which selects the cheapest items remaining in a particular category that are due to finish shortly.

There is another separate section for searching eBay stores. Users can choose which nation's version of Amazon, eBay and other shops are to be searched.

Unlike so-called 'sniping' tools, which attempt to better other users' eBay efforts by automatically placing bids at the last minute, Pricepirates does not allow users to bid directly.

Viewing of items and bidding on them is done using the user's standard web browser, by clicking on a link in the program.