Price per TB, per GB, per core: how I compare homelab hardware deals

Description and use

PerUnitPrice automates price‑per‑unit comparison for homelab hardware, pulling eBay listings, normalising units, and ranking by cost per TB, GB, core, etc., to streamline purchasing decisions.

Problem

Determining the true cost of homelab hardware requires comparing price per unit rather than sticker price, but manual calculations are tedious.

Outcome

Automated price-per-unit ranking reduces manual effort and improves purchasing decisions for homelab hardware.

Workflow

• 1. Visit PerUnitPrice website. 2. The site scrapes new and used eBay listings multiple times a day. 3. Listings are normalised to common units (TB, GB, VRAM, core, port, kWh). 4. Items are ranked by price per unit. 5. Users filter results by desired criteria (capacity, interface, brand, socket, voltage). 6. Users view the filtered listing directly for purchase.

Evidence

I got tired of doing this math by hand, so I built PerUnitPrice. It pulls new and used listings from eBay several times a day, normalises them and ranks them by price per unit.

Source

What matters is how much you pay for each unit you actually get: each terabyte, gigabyte of RAM or VRAM, CPU core or watt-hour of battery.

Source

A 4 TB drive for $70 looks cheap next to a 20 TB drive for $260. Per terabyte, though, the first one costs $17.50/TB and the second one $13/TB.

Source