Explainer
How to spot a fake discount
A percent-off tag is a story about two numbers. The interesting one is the higher number, because that is the one a store can invent. Here is the check the desk uses before a deal gets anything better than an F.
Does the was-price ever show up?
Open the chart. If the crossed-out price is sitting in the history, the tag might be telling the truth about a past price. If the line never goes near it, the discount is a costume.
The LG 28 cu. ft. French door fridge is the picture. Home Depot’s tag is $3,099. The recorded points are $1,560 on September 1 and $1,799 today. The $3,099 figure is not among them. That is a D.
The RIDGID 18V high-torque impact wrench kit does the same thing. The tag is $557. The recorded prices are $179, $179.10, $199, and $229. The kit sells for $199 almost every month.
A real was-price can still be a bad deal. It only means the higher number existed. It does not mean today is the day to buy.
Is today actually lower than the last few months?
Some prices bounce to the same low every month and spend the rest of the time higher. The tag can still look dramatic.
The Insignia 1.1 cu. ft. microwave is Best Buy’s Deal of the Day at $79.99, and it has been $79.99 about once a month since June. The RIDGID 18V hand vacuum is $79 today. Home Depot sold it for $69 on September 14. Both are a Wait.
What do the other stores charge today?
A discount measured against a store’s own tag ignores the shop across the street. The Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 is $499 at Jackery, $60 under a $559 tag. Other major retailers have sold it for $120 to $170 less since August. The Alienware 27 4K monitor is $499.99 at Dell, and it has sold for $100 to $150 less at other major retailers this past year. Both are a D.
Who is selling it?
A refurbished kit with a short warranty is not the same product as a new one a store will take back for a year. The Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus 6kWh kit is refurbished, with a 6-month warranty, against a $5,799 compare price. New kits like it sold for about the same price in June. That is an F.
The coupon in the corner
A code that only works on a price the store already raised is the same trick in a smaller font. Read the line at checkout. If the price you will actually pay is the normal price, there is no deal to grade above a C.
What we do with it
When the tag fails these checks, the deal stays on the site with a D or an F and a lesson. The lesson says which check failed. That page is more useful than a feed that only claps.