A deals site that only repeats a store's "was $X" label is a billboard for the store. We wanted something better, so every offer goes through the same checks before it is listed or posted anywhere.
One product per offer
A robot opens every link and follows it to the store. The offer stays only when it lands on a single product page. Roundups, category pages and "up to 80% off" headlines stay out.
What every discount is measured against
A percentage means nothing without its baseline. Next to every discount we say where it comes from:
- "vs. list price at [store]" when the store itself reports the list price (Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Woot, Apple and others).
- "as reported by [deal site]" when the discount comes from the deal site that found the offer.
Discounts below 5% are not shown: that is noise, not a deal.
Amazon prices
Amazon only allows prices that come straight from its own system, and only while they are fresh. When we do not have a fresh Amazon price, the card says "Price at Amazon" instead of guessing. Click through; the price on Amazon is the real one.
Safety checks before anything goes out
Before an offer appears in our emails, alerts or social posts, the price in the headline must match the product page, offers for "select accounts", in-store only or new customers only are held back, and offers we cannot verify say so in plain text.
What we do not do
- We do not invent or estimate prices.
- We do not show price charts or "lowest ever" claims.
- No store pays for a place on the site or for a better label.
Other tools you can use
To see how a price moved over time, tools like CamelCamelCamel and Keepa (for Amazon) have years of data and browser extensions. Comparing the same model at a second store is the simplest check of all.