What is in this guide
To know if a sale is real, compare the exact item’s current total price with dated prices you recorded before the promotion. Check another seller too: a reduction from an earlier price and a competitive price today are different questions, and neither tells you whether you need the purchase.
Start with one purchase you already planned
Choose something you expect to buy, such as replacement bedding, a school bag or a household staple. Write down the specification you need and the date you need it by. This keeps the exercise tied to a household job rather than a list of tempting offers.
For groceries, start with a repeat purchase identified through a review of your grocery receipt. For a larger purchase, decide what fits your spending plan before opening sale pages. A family budget that survives a real month covers planning for costs that do not arrive every week.
Use a notebook, a phone note or a spreadsheet. The method below is an editorial routine, not a tested savings programme. You do not need a paid tracking service to keep your own records.
Step 1: Make each recorded price comparable
Copy the full model or product name, size, pack quantity and condition. For clothing, include the size and colour you would actually buy. For an appliance, record the model code rather than just the product range.
Keep a simple log with these fields:
| Record | What to put in it |
|---|---|
| Date checked | The day you saw the offer |
| Exact item | Model, variant, quantity and condition |
| Seller | The business selling it, including the seller on a marketplace |
| Item price | The amount shown for that specific item |
| Conditions | Membership, code, minimum spend or required quantity |
| Getting it home | Delivery charge or available collection option |
| Comparable total | What you would pay using the option you can actually use |
| Evidence | A saved screenshot, receipt or dated note |
Leave unknown fields marked unknown. Do not enter zero for delivery just because the product page has not shown it yet. Keep receipts separate from browsing observations so you can distinguish a price paid from an advertised offer.
Step 2: Build a history before the next promotion
Record a price now, then check again when you would normally review the purchase. A weekly check is one manageable starting routine if the purchase can wait; it is not a rule about how long a sale must be tracked.
Keep earlier rows when a price changes. An overwritten figure cannot show you what happened before the sale sign appeared. Note whether each observation was labelled a promotion, but keep that label separate from the amount.
The useful comparison is today’s offer against your dated observations. If it matches a price you have repeatedly recorded, you have no new price advantage over those observations. If it is lower, you have evidence of a reduction relative to them.
Call that the lowest price in your records, if that is what the records show. Do not turn it into a claim that it is the lowest price ever. Your checks leave gaps between observation dates and may not cover every seller.
Step 3: Read the history behind the crossed-out price
The ACCC identifies comparisons with an earlier price or recommended retail price as potentially misleading when the reference price lacks a genuine basis. Its guidance also warns about promoting a normal selling price as a special. [S1]
Treat the crossed-out number as something to check against your log. If you only started recording today, you cannot establish the earlier selling pattern from today’s ticket alone. Mark the history as insufficient rather than guessing that the claim is true or false.
For the wider explanation of discount claims, read how to spot false discounts and sale tactics. Here, the job is to build evidence for your own purchase decision.
If you consult a price-history chart, check the item variant, seller, dates and charges it covers before using it. Where those details are unclear, keep the chart separate from your matched observations. Do not assume that a plotted low was available for your size, delivery location or purchase conditions.
Step 4: Compare what you would pay today
Check the same item at another seller and work through the charges before payment. The ACCC advises shoppers to add up all charges, compare final prices and remove unwanted preselected extras. [S1]
Compare delivery with delivery, or collection with collection where both are practical. Keep a member-only offer separate if you do not qualify. Do not count a future voucher as an immediate reduction in what leaves your account.
For a bundle, list what you intended to buy before counting the extras as value. A lower total is useful only if the comparison still covers the item and quantity you need.
Step 5: Decide when to stop checking
Use your purchase deadline alongside the evidence:
| What you found | Practical next step |
|---|---|
| Lower than matched earlier observations, with a competitive total today | Consider buying if it fits the planned need and spending limit |
| Same as earlier observations | Treat it as an available price, without a new saving over your records |
| Lower item price but higher delivered total | Compare on the delivered total |
| No reliable history | Judge today’s alternatives; leave the historical discount unverified |
| No need for the item | Leave it off the purchase list |
If a replacement is needed now, choose from the suitable options available now. Waiting is an option only when the household can manage without the purchase; this method cannot predict the next price drop.
Start today with one planned item. Save its exact specification, today’s total and your buying deadline in the same note.
How we checked this: Checked on 23 September 2026 against ACCC price-display guidance. The log and decision routine are editorial suggestions. No retail prices were sampled, no products or tracking services were tested, and no savings are promised.
Related reading: A Simple Weekly Meal Plan Routine That Cuts Grocery Waste.
Related reading: Household subscription audit checklist before the next renewal.
Related reading: How to plan a two week grocery shop that stays on budget.
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