How to Tell a Real Discount from a Fake One

A discount is not a property of a product. It is a comparison between two numbers, one of which you can see and one of which you are being told about. Everything that makes sale pricing misleading happens in that second number — where it came from, how long it applied, and whether anyone ever paid it.

This guide explains what UK rules now require, which tactics to recognise, and how to check a price history in about three minutes.

What a "saving" claim is really comparing

Every strike-through implies a reference price, and reference prices come in several varieties that are not equally meaningful.

A previous selling price at that retailer is the strongest kind — provided it was charged for a meaningful period, recently, and in the same channel. A recommended retail price is a manufacturer's suggestion. A competitor's price is a comparison with someone else's decision. A higher price at a different time of year may be technically true and practically irrelevant. And an introductory price presented as a reduction compares against a price that never applied at all.

The first question to ask of any saving is therefore simple: compared with what, charged by whom, and when? A retailer that answers clearly on the page is being straight with you; one that shows only a crossed-out number has made a claim without stating its basis.

RRP is a suggestion, not a benchmark

Recommended retail prices exist for manufacturers' commercial reasons and are not a statement of market value. In many categories, goods are routinely sold well below RRP for their entire life, so a saving calculated against it describes the distance between a suggestion and reality rather than a reduction you have been granted.

Two variants deserve particular caution. Own-brand and marketplace listings sometimes cite an RRP set by the seller itself, which makes the comparison circular. And in categories where discounting is permanent, an RRP may never have been charged anywhere.

The correction is to ignore RRP and compare against what the item actually sells for — across several retailers, and across the past few months.

UK rules that changed pricing claims

Since 6 April 2025, unfair commercial practices have been governed by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which replaced the earlier regulations and gave the Competition and Markets Authority direct enforcement powers, including substantial fines, without going to court first.

Two aspects matter to shoppers. Misleading price comparisons fall within the general prohibition on misleading actions and omissions — a "was" price should reflect a genuine previous selling price rather than a figure chosen to make a saving look larger. There is no single mechanical rule such as a fixed number of days at the higher price; the test is whether the comparison misleads, judged on how long, how recently and in what channel the higher price actually applied. Separately, false claims about limited availability or a limited time offer, used to induce an immediate decision, are among the practices treated as unfair.

The CMA has published guidance on unfair commercial practices and, subsequently, dedicated price transparency guidance, and has opened enforcement work into online pricing practices — so this is an actively policed area rather than a dormant one.

Drip pricing: what must be in the headline price

Drip pricing is the practice of advertising one price and adding mandatory charges as you proceed. Under the DMCC Act it is treated as automatically unfair, meaning the regulator does not need to show that an average consumer's decision was affected.

The requirement is that the total price be given upfront in any invitation to purchase, including all mandatory fees, taxes, charges and delivery costs the consumer must pay. Where an element genuinely cannot be calculated in advance, the trader must set out the charge and how it is calculated, at least as prominently as the total price. Genuinely optional extras — gift wrapping, seat selection, an extended warranty, a service upgrade — may still be presented separately, because you can decline them.

The CMA's final guidance takes a broad view of what counts as an invitation to purchase, covering search results, banners and baskets, and treats liability as shared along the chain, so marketplaces and comparison sites can be responsible for prices they present.

For you, this converts into a simple test: does the first price you see match the total at checkout once you have declined every optional extra? If not, ask what the added charge was for.

Six pressure tactics and what they're for

• Countdown timers. Often tied to a session rather than to the offer. Reload the page in a private window and see whether the deadline resets.
• Stock scarcity messages. "Only three left" may reflect a warehouse figure, a threshold set by the retailer, or nothing at all.
• Live activity notifications. "Twelve people are viewing this" is a design element; treat it as decoration unless the retailer explains the source.
• Anchoring with a premium option placed alongside to make the target look reasonable.
• Bundle framing where the saving depends on buying something you did not want.
• Percentage-off signage at entrances qualified by "selected lines" in small type.

None of these tells you anything about the product. They are designed to shorten the interval between wanting and buying — which is precisely the interval where good decisions are made, as discussed in how to avoid buyer's remorse.

Checking price history in three minutes

1. Search the exact model number across several retailers. A price appearing at a similar level everywhere is the market price, whatever any one page claims.
2. Use a price tracker or browser extension that records listing prices over time. Look for the shape of the curve rather than a single previous figure — a rise shortly before a sale is the classic tell.
3. Check an archived or cached version of the product page to see what the listing said previously.
4. Look for the same item in a different colour or configuration, which is often listed at the ordinary price while one variant is "reduced".
5. Screenshot with a date if you intend to complain later. Pages are edited quietly.

Apply the same care to editorial pages promoting deals: a discount recommended by a publisher is still a recommendation, and the disclosure questions in how to read a buying guide apply. Review sections around discounted items also warrant the checks in how to spot fake reviews.

When sales genuinely are the moment to buy

Real reductions exist, and dismissing all of them is as costly as believing all of them.

Genuine discounts cluster in predictable places: end-of-line and superseded models, where the retailer needs the space and last year's version does the same job; seasonal clearance, where stock is out of season rather than out of favour; open-box, ex-display and refurbished stock, where the reduction reflects real condition; and end-of-quarter periods when retailers are clearing inventory.

The condition that makes any of them work is having decided in advance. A shortlist built before the sale converts a discount into a trigger rather than a decision, which is the entire argument of how to shortlist products. And a genuine reduction on the wrong item is still money spent on the wrong item, which is why the quality checks in how to judge product quality online come before the price check, not after.

A pre-checkout pause list

1. Was this on my list before the sale? If not, the sale is the reason you want it.
2. What is the reference price, and where did it come from?
3. What has this actually sold for over the past few months, at several retailers?
4. Does the headline price match the total once optional extras are declined?
5. What is the return window, and does it change during sale periods? Confirm before buying, not after — the rights are in UK returns and refunds rights.
6. Would I buy this at this price if nothing were crossed out?

If the answer to the last question is no, the discount is doing the deciding, and you have your answer.