What a crossed-out price is worth

Since 2022 that struck-through price cannot simply be invented. That makes it more honest - and still not evidence that you are buying well.

There is a rule most people have never heard of that touches nearly every sale in Europe. Since 28 May 2022, a shop announcing a price reduction must calculate it against the lowest price that same shop charged in the previous thirty days. Not the recommended retail price, not what it cost last year, not a figure nobody has ever paid.

That is a real improvement. The classic trick - raising the price a week before the sale so the discount looks bigger - is exactly what it outlaws. But it is a rule about honest arithmetic, not a rule about a good price, and that difference is where people come unstuck.

Because of what the rule does not do: it says nothing about other shops. A retailer that discounts nothing for thirty days may then cut from that high price having broken no rule at all, even if a competitor was cheaper all year. And it says nothing about the long run - "lowest in the last thirty days" is a one-month window, while the question you actually have covers a year.

So a percentage is not information. Two shops selling the same item can show "-40%" and "-10%" with the second one cheaper - the percentages refer to two different numbers, each chosen by the shop quoting it. The only figure that compares is what you end up paying.

What you do about it is to invert the comparison. Start from the product rather than the offer: find the same item across several shops side by side, and look at the final amount including delivery. That is what this site is for - search for a product here and you get the offers lined up rather than one of them wearing a badge. Add Amazon's price to that if you want to be sure; it is the shop you would otherwise have opened in a second tab anyway.

Around Black Friday this matters most, and one plain observation goes with it: a great deal of what is discounted then is discounted because it has to move, not because it is good. A reduction on something you did not want is a hundred per cent of nothing. The approach that works is to write down beforehand what you are looking for and the most you will pay, then let everything else go past.

And a lowest-price guarantee - "find it cheaper and we refund the difference" - is not a price comparison. Read the terms: they generally exclude marketplace sellers, temporary promotions and foreign retailers, which together are roughly the answer you were after.

Questions

What must a discount be measured against since 2022?

The lowest price that same shop charged in the previous thirty days. It is an EU rule in force since 28 May 2022.

Does a bigger discount percentage mean a lower price?

No. Each shop calculates against its own earlier price, so percentages are not comparable between shops. Only the final amount including delivery is.

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