How to spot a fake sale in NZ

Lots of NZ "sales" are not sales. The price was raised a week before, or the "was" price was never really charged. Here is how to tell, and how BetaDeals checks every discount for you.

1. Ask: was it ever sold at the "was" price?

A real discount is measured against a price people actually paid. If a store has shown "was $199" for months while always selling at $129, the saving is not $70. BetaDeals keeps the price history of every product we track, and a discount only counts once we have seen the item sell at a higher price for a while.

2. Check other stores, today

A 40% "discount" means little if another store sells the same thing for less every day. We match the same product across stores (by barcode where we can, otherwise by brand and model) and mark it Cheaper elsewhere when someone else is lower.

3. Watch for a price that jumped just before the sale

If the "was" price is higher than anything we have seen, or appeared only days ago, we mark the deal Discount not confirmed. We never accuse a store; we just do not count a saving we cannot back up.

4. Know when sales come round

Many NZ stores run sales at the same times each year (Black Friday, Boxing Day, end of financial year, Singles Day). If a big sale is usually weeks away, it can pay to wait. BetaDeals shows "possible sale in N weeks" from each store's own history: a hint, never a promise.

What our labels mean

Grab it: a real, checked discount, and the price is at or near the lowest we have seen.
Good price: a real, checked discount.
Cheaper elsewhere: another store has it for less right now.
Discount not confirmed: we could not back up the "was" price yet.
Normal price: about what it usually costs.

Stores never pay to change a grade, and there are no ads. The app adds your own shopping list, a wish list that keeps hunting for the big things you want, cheap flights from your airport and exchange-rate alerts.

Want the deals on the things you buy? Add them to your shopping list in the app and we tell you when one is a real Grab it. Free. Open BetaDeals · Get the app