How we rate deals
Every deal gets 1 to 5 carts from a fixed set of rules based on price data. The same prices always get the same rating, and no store can pay for a better one.
The Dude Meter
| Rating | When we give it |
|---|---|
Buy It Yesterday | Today's price is the lowest we've seen in the past year, or at least half off the item's usual price. |
Grab It | Within 5% of the lowest price we've seen in the past year. |
Solid Deal | Below the item's usual price. Worth it if you need it now. |
Wait For It | About the usual price, or a lower price is expected soon. Waiting is usually smarter. |
Not a Real Deal | Not a real deal: the “sale” price is the everyday price, or it was at least 5% cheaper in the last 30 days. |
Usual price means the 90-day typical price. Lowest price means the lowest in the past 12 months. A price more than 5% above the usual price gets 1 cart. A store's crossed-out “regular” price is shown only as the store's claim, and our “% below usual” uses the usual price, never the store's claim.
When there isn't enough price history
Some items are new, or we haven't tracked them long. Then the deal says “limited price history” and the rating is capped at 3 carts. Without history, 3 carts takes either a store discount of 30% or more, or a price that deal hunters flagged and we confirmed at the store. We never invent a confidence score.
Before a deal goes up
- Live price. We read today's price on the store's own site, or from the store's own data feed.
- Second source. We compare the store's price with the price from where we found the deal: a store data feed, a deal tip or a price-history service.
- Link check. We make sure the link opens the right product at the right store.
- Sanity check. We catch likely price errors, math mistakes and anything misleading.
A deal posts automatically only when the store confirms today's price, the sanity check passes, no check fails, and it rates 3 carts or better. Anything else waits for a person to review it.
After it's live
We recheck every live deal about every hour. If the price goes up or it sells out, we mark it ended right away. If we can't confirm the price three checks in a row, we take the deal down. Each deal shows when its price was last confirmed, with a warning if that was more than 2 hours ago.
Predictions
We don't predict prices. When we mention timing, it's a past fact, like “It was $229 last Black Friday.” If we ever estimate an upcoming drop, it's labeled “our estimate.”
Editor overrides
Rarely, an editor checks a price by hand and changes a rating. When that happens, the deal says “Rated by our editors” and why.
How we make money
Some links earn us a small commission at no cost to you. Commissions never change a rating. Stores can't pay for placement, and we list good deals even when we earn nothing. Full affiliate disclosure.
Amazon prices
Amazon only allows prices that come directly from Amazon. So Amazon deals show a price only after Amazon's own data confirms it.
Spot a mistake?
Prices change fast. If a deal is wrong, email hello@askthedealdudes.com or use “Report a problem” on any deal. We fix it as fast as we can.