How we verify a deal
A discount badge is a marketing claim, not a fact. Our job is to check that claim against what an item has genuinely cost over time.
We keep the price, not just today's price
For every product we follow at a South African retailer, we record the price and check it regularly. Over time that builds a history: what the item cost last month, what it dropped to, how long each price held. Right now we are following 7,044 active deals at 50% or more off, each with its own recorded history behind it.
That history is the thing a normal shopper cannot see. On a retailer page you get one price and a crossed-out was-price. You have no way of knowing whether that was-price is real or whether the item has quietly sold for less for months. We keep the record so you do.
The two numbers that actually matter
- The lowest we have recorded. The cheapest we have actually seen the item. If the current price is at or near it, the deal is genuinely good. If it is well above it, the sale is shallow, whatever the badge says.
- The price it usually holds. The price the item sat at for the longest stretch. This is a fairer anchor than the retailer's was-price, because it is the price the item really lived at.
Together they answer the only question that counts: is this price low against what the item has truly cost, or just low against a number the retailer chose?
How a deal earns the green label
Every card on this site carries a small verdict. It is computed the same way every time:
- Real: the price has genuinely moved while we tracked it, and today's price is 20% or more below the price the item usually holds.
- Saves something: there is a verified saving, but it is smaller than the badge suggests.
- No real drop: we have watched long enough to judge, and the price has not meaningfully moved. The badge is doing the work.
- Still checking: the item is new to our records, so we say plainly that we cannot vouch for the saving yet.
How we treat was-prices
A was-price is supposed to be the recent, regular selling price. We compare every advertised was-price to the highest price we have recorded for that item. When the was-price sits above anything we have seen, we say so on the deal page, next to the price the item has actually held. We are careful here: we can only speak to the time we have been tracking an item, not what it may have cost before, so we lead with the recorded price rather than calling a was-price false.
It is more common than you would hope. Across the 6,639 deals where we have enough recorded history to run the check, 84% carry a was-price higher than anything we have recorded for the item. That is the single biggest reason to look past a discount badge.
What we can confirm, and what we cannot
When an item has only just appeared in our records, there is no history yet, and we say plainly that we cannot vouch for the saving. A price needs to have been watched for a while, or to have actually moved, before the history means anything. We would rather tell you a deal is unproven than dress it up.
We also do not sell anything, and we are not paid by the shops we track. There is nothing pushing us to call a weak deal a good one. The rules we follow are written down in our editorial policy.
How to read a deal in ten seconds
Ignore the percentage first. Look at the current price against the lowest we have recorded and the price it usually holds, and glance at the chart. If the current price is at or near the recorded low and clearly below the usual price, it is a genuine deal. If not, it is a sticker.
