The rubric
How we grade
A grade is an editor's call. It is written down, and you can argue with it from the chart on the page. Stores do not pay for a letter.
1. The chart
We look at the stored price points, not the size of the percent. A price at the bottom of that history, from a stretch where it did not keep returning, can earn an A or a B. A price the item hits on a predictable sale week is often a Wait, even when the tag looks dramatic. A price above the usual band is a D or an F.
The chart on a deal is those stored points, and only when the points name the store. Some listings show a written price note instead. It is not a live lookup.
2. The other stores
The same item at a lower price, from a store we would actually order from, pulls the grade down. Open-box and refurb only win when the warranty is comparable and the discount is real. When we find the same item at another store, we list it on the deal page. The button names the store you are opening.
3. The seller and the tag
A crossed-out price that never appears in the history is not a discount. It is a costume. That is an F. A marketplace seller with no warranty, or a price gap that usually means a missing charger or a unit you cannot return, is an F even when the percent is huge.
D and F grades stay on Detention, the Skip It list. A D is a Wait. An F says Skip. A deals desk that only shows winners is a catalog.
The letters
| Grade | What it means | Usual verdict |
|---|---|---|
| At or near the best price in the history, from a store we would order from. | Buy now | |
| A solid price, with a caveat written in the lesson. | Buy now, sometimes Wait | |
| Ordinary. The tag is doing more work than the price. | Wait | |
| Weak, or another store is already cheaper. | Wait | |
| A fake was-price, a seller we would not buy from, or a price higher than usual. | Skip |
The grade and the verdict are related, and they are not the same thing. A B can still say Wait when the lesson is "this price comes back." An A that we would buy today says Buy now. An F says Skip. An F is never a buy.
We use AI tools to help gather and summarize price data; every grade is checked against the price history before it's published.
Ask the Teacher is coming soon. It will use this same rubric.
After the bell
A deal with an end time shows a Final Bell countdown. When that time passes, or an editor marks the offer expired because the price went back up, the page stays published with a Class Dismissed stamp. The grade stays. The deal leaves the default feed. That is also why an old URL can still teach. A deal with no end time has no countdown.
What this desk will not do
- Sell a grade. A future sponsored placement would be labeled, and it would still have to pass this rubric.
- Show vote or comment counts. A grade is an editor’s call.
- Invent a price history. A chart is drawn only from recorded points that name the store.
Read How to spot a fake discount for the same checks in plain shopping language, and the editorial policy for how corrections work.