How to know if a price is actually good

Every retail page is designed to make right now feel like the moment: strikethrough prices, countdown timers, “47 sold today.” None of that tells you whether the price is good.

A good price is a claim about history and alternatives, not about the number on the tag. Here’s how to check the claim in five minutes.

1. Ignore the strikethrough

The “was” price is the weakest evidence on the page. Reference prices are often set high precisely so the discount looks big, and regulators in several countries have penalized exactly this pattern. Treat strikethroughs as decoration.

2. Compare against the typical price, not the peak

What did this product cost most days over the last month or two? A “30% off” from a brief peak may be 5% off the typical price. Price history answers this in one glance — it’s the single highest-value check on this list.

3. Find the real floor

The all-time low tells you what the market has proven possible. If today’s price is within a few percent of the floor, it’s a genuinely good price. If the floor is 25% lower and was hit twice this year, you know both what to wait for and roughly how often it comes.

4. Check across retailers

Promo windows rotate between stores. The same product is regularly 10–20% apart across major retailers in the same week. A price that’s “good” at one store may simply be another store’s regular price.

5. Ask what the calendar says

Most categories have known windows — generation changeovers, seasonal clearance, event weeks. If a predictable window is close, waiting has positive expected value; if one just passed, today’s decent price may be the best for months.

Driig automates all five checks: cross-retailer history, an honest all-time-low marker, typical-price comparison in alerts, and a target price you set once. You do the judgment; it does the vigilance.

Frequently asked questions

What discount percentage counts as good?

Percent-off a strikethrough means nothing on its own. Measure against the typical recent price and the all-time low; “within a few percent of the proven floor” is a far better rule than any fixed percentage.

How much history is enough?

Thirty days answers “is this a real discount?” A year answers “what’s the floor and how often does it recur?” Start tracking before you need to buy and the data is ready when you are.