How I verify every deal

The whole point of this site is that a discount here is real. That claim is worthless unless you can check it, so here is the entire method — including the parts where I could still be wrong.

The problem I exist to solve

Retail pricing is full of discounts that were never discounts. A product carries a “list price” it has not sold at in a year, gets marked down to its normal price, and the strike-through makes it look like 40% off. Most deal accounts republish that number without checking, because checking is work and the click pays the same either way.

What I check before anything gets posted

1. The real recent selling price, not the list price. I pull at least 90 days of price history and find what the item has actually been selling for. Every judgement on this site is measured against that figure — never against the manufacturer’s list price.
2. A minimum genuine discount of 15%. Against the real recent price, not the list price. Below that it is ordinary price movement, and posting it would be noise.
3. Where this sits against the history. If it is the lowest price in the window I say so. If it merely matches a price you could have had three weeks ago, I say that too.
4. A freshness limit. Prices are checked within 24 hours of publishing, and every page carries the timestamp of that check.

Why you won’t see an Amazon price here

Amazon’s Associates terms permit a site to display their prices only when Amazon itself serves the data or it comes through their product API — which is gated behind sales volume I have not reached. Rather than quote a number I am not licensed to publish, or a stale one that has since moved, I send you to Amazon for the live price and tell you plainly whether this moment is a good one to buy.

That is a better deal for you anyway: the figure you see at checkout is always Amazon’s own and always current, and I cannot quietly leave an attractive old price on the page after it has expired. Where a retailer’s programme does license price data to me, you will see a real number with the source and timestamp attached.

These rules are enforced by the build, not by good intentions

Each rule above is a validation on the content schema of this site. A deal missing its price-history data, or whose discount does not clear 15% against the real recent price, or whose price check is stale, will not compile. It cannot be published by accident, or in a hurry, or because it was going to convert well.

Every page states who should not buy it

A cheap product is not automatically a good one. Every deal page carries a “Skip it if” section, and it is not decorative — if I cannot think of anyone who should pass, I do not understand the product well enough to recommend it.

Where I can still be wrong

• Prices move faster than I do. A price verified an hour ago can change before you click. Always confirm on Amazon before buying — the figure there is the real one.
• Price history is not a quality judgement. A genuine 40% discount on a mediocre product is still a mediocre product. Read the verdict, not just the percentage.
• I only see the prices I track. A better price may exist at another retailer. I will say so when I know.

How I make money, and how that could bias me

I earn a commission when you buy through my links, at no extra cost to you. The honest risk is that commission rewards posting more deals rather than better ones. Two things push against it: the 15% floor is enforced by the build regardless of what a post would earn, and expired deals stay online rather than being deleted, so my track record stays checkable. If you ever find a “was” price here that was not real, tell me and I will correct it publicly.