BasketPrice

When a price is actually worth taking

A price is worth taking when it is low against its own history at that retailer — not when the discount badge is large, and not because a sale has a name.

Updated · BasketPrice editorial

Compare a price with itself

Every useful judgement about a price is a comparison with the same item at the same shop over time. The median of the last 90 days is the honest centre of that comparison: half the time it cost more, half the time less.

Two numbers around it decide the rest. The 90-day low tells you what is achievable. The gap between the low and the median tells you what waiting is worth: if they are $6 apart, waiting for the floor is not a plan, it is a hobby.

What a price hold tells you

Retail prices do not drift daily. They sit at one number for one to three weeks and then jump, which means the useful signal is not the price today but how long today’s price has held. A number that appeared this morning is a promotion. A number that has held for five weeks is the shelf price and will not fall by itself.

We show that as "held since" on every product page for exactly this reason: it is the difference between a price you can wait out and a price you cannot.

What our data cannot tell you

A price history tells you what happened, not what will. We do not forecast, and we will not print a prediction dressed as a fact — nobody can see a retailer’s margin plan or their inventory position.

It is also silent on stock, on return policy, and on whether a cheaper seller is one you should hand a card number to. Those decide purchases too, and no chart contains them.

At their lowest recorded price right now

Every item here is at or below the cheapest price we have recorded for it at that retailer, with at least ten recorded checks behind the claim.

A lineTwo or more readings. Every turn in it is a price we saw, with a date on it.A dashed lineOne reading so far. We are not guessing what came before it.3/10 checksHow much record stands behind the price. We hold a verdict until 10.

Questions people ask

How far back should a price comparison go?
Ninety days covers a full retail quarter and normally includes at least one promotional cycle, which is what makes a median meaningful. A year of history is better for seasonal goods and worse for electronics, where the whole price curve slides down over time.
Does a bigger discount mean a better price?
No. The discount is measured against a number the retailer chose. Two shops selling the same item at $180 can advertise 10% off and 55% off. What you pay is identical.