Sometimes, you’ll need to purchase supplies to complete a scheduled activity or you may need to hire a service provider to get the job done professionally. Upkeepr links you to merchants so you can quickly find the products and services you are looking for. Let’s see how it works.
Assume that, as an Upkeepr, you have entered your home’s wood deck as an item that needs regular maintenance. You’ve scheduled an activity named “Power wash and seal” the deck, due in a few days, and you discover that you need some cleaning solution and a long handled scrub brush before you can start the job. In fact, you realize that you’ll also need to rent a power washer so that the deck can be cleaned properly. Below is a picture of the activity in your To Do list.
How can Upkeepr help?
Upkeepr not only conveniently links you to Amazon and/or eBay’s websites to find the products and service providers you need, it also automatically displays relevant search results by using the data stored in your item record to look for the items you need.
To see what Upkeepr recommends, first click on the “Power wash and seal” activity for the deck to open the activity. Important details about the activity are displayed, such as the name of the activity, the item with which it is associated, the due date, and the status.
Below the activity details, there is a collapsible section called Suggestions. Here you see that Upkeepr will take you to either the Amazon or Ebay websites so that you can make purchases. For example, clicking on the Amazon “Find Products” button will take you to amazon.com and will automatically direct you to Amazon’s ‘’Home and Kitchen department (to the left of the search field). Upkeepr uses information you have entered about your deck and the name of the scheduled activity to guide you to the proper department at Amazon. By narrowing the search to one department, the search results become much more relevant. See the results of the search:
Here you can purchase both the recommended cleaning solution and the water seal, or look for something else, like the long-handled scrub brush. You have left Upkeepr and can use Amazon to put your materials in your cart before returning to Upkeepr.
In order to see whether Amazon has any recommendations for service providers in your area to rent you a power washer, click on the Amazon “Find Services” button in Upkeepr’s “Suggestions” section. See the next figure for reference.
When you click on the “Amazon – Find Service’ button, Upkeepr will take to you to Amazon’s Home and Business Services and search on the name of the activity (Power wash and seal) and the item name (Deck). If Amazon has partnerships with vendors that provide deck cleaning services, the search results will list merchants from whom you can purchase services, such as deck washing and equipment rental. If no service providers are available, then the search results will be product oriented. In order to narrow the search results to the most relevant hits, we recommend naming your items with descriptive information on which searches can be performed. For example, entering “pressure treated wood deck” for your item name will result in better suggestions than entering ‘back sitting area” or “party central”. If you find that your search reveals irrelevant results, you can always modify the search criteria in amazon’s search field for better results.
If you‘d like to search for products or services on eBay, simply go to the Suggestions section and click on the “eBay – Find Products” button. Upkeepr uses the Item name and activity name to find products that can be used for your activity.
Your search results will vary, depending on what’s available and the relevance of your item and activity descriptions.
Upkeepr has an affiliate relationship with Amazon and eBay. If you click on the Suggestions buttons and purchase their products or services, Upkeepr receives a small commission from the sale. You can help support our development efforts by purchasing through Upkeepr Suggestions. We appreciate your support!
