The crossed-out price is one of the oldest tricks in retail. A coat marked “$285, now $39.96” feels like a can’t-miss steal — but only if that $285 was ever a real, recent selling price. When it wasn’t, the “discount” is mostly theater. Here is how to check a “was” price yourself in under a minute, and how we handle reference prices at KAI Deals USA.
A higher reference price makes any sale look more urgent and more generous. That’s powerful, so some sellers inflate the “original” number — or quietly leave a long-gone launch price on the tag — to manufacture a bargain. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission’s guidance on deceptive pricing says a “former price” should be a genuine price the item was actually offered at for a reasonable period, not a figure invented to create the impression of savings.
Most large national retailers try to follow this. The gray area is third-party sellers on big marketplaces, where anyone can type in an “original” price with little oversight. That’s where the wildest “80% off” claims tend to live — and where a quick check saves you money.
The fastest reality check: open the manufacturer’s official site and search the exact model. If a bag is “$295” at a marketplace seller but the brand sells it for $150 everywhere, the “was” is fiction. Brand sites are the closest thing to a true baseline.
For Amazon, tools like CamelCamelCamel and Keepa chart a product’s real price over months, so you can see whether “$79.89” ever happened or the item mostly sold for $40. Google Shopping also shows a “price insights” range and typical price for many products. If the “sale” price matches the item’s normal price, it isn’t a deal.
Many listings show a manufacturer’s list price (MSRP) rather than what the store normally charges. MSRP is often far above the everyday street price, so a discount “off list” can be much smaller than it looks. Look for what the store itself charged recently, not just the sticker MSRP.
We’ve seen a piece of costume jewelry listed as “$102, now $12.” Nobody was ever going to pay $102 for it. On Walmart and Amazon, check whether the item is shipped and sold by the retailer or by a random third party — the reference prices from unknown sellers deserve the most suspicion.
A clean “$100 → $25” on a no-name product is a flag; so is a bizarre “$317.63” original that no store would actually set. Real prices cluster around normal retail points ($39.99, $59.50, $128). Numbers that exist only to make the math look good are worth a second look.
We only show a crossed-out “was” price when the retailer’s own product page lists it at the time we check. If a store shows only a current price, that’s all we publish — no invented original, no reverse-engineered “discount.” For marketplaces, we favor items shipped and sold by the retailer, and we skip listings whose “original” price looks manufactured. You can read the full standard on our editorial & accuracy policy page.
A genuine discount survives a 30-second check. Before you buy anything on a “huge” markdown, glance at the brand’s own price or a price-history tool. If the numbers line up, enjoy the deal. If they don’t, skip it — there’s almost always another sale next week. When we post a price, we’ve already done this check for you and stamped each deal with the date we confirmed it, so you can shop the board with a little less doubt.
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