Buying guide
How to tell if a price is actually a deal
Most 'discounts' are measured against a price nobody pays. Judging a deal properly takes about two minutes and saves more money than any single purchase decision you will make this year.
What actually matters
Compare against street price, not list price
The reference that matters is what the product normally sells for, not the recommended retail price.
Know the refresh cycle
A discount right before a new model launches is the manufacturer clearing stock, not generosity — though it can still be the smart buy.
Count the total cost
Delivery, accessories, consumables and replacement parts belong in the price. A cheap printer with expensive ink is not cheap.
Check the seller, not just the price
The cheapest listing is worthless if returns are difficult or the warranty is not honoured locally.
The three prices of every product
Every product has a list price (fiction), a street price (what it normally sells for) and a floor price (the lowest it credibly reaches during major sales). A good deal is close to the floor price. A 'discount' from list to street is not a discount at all.
You can establish the street price in a minute by checking several unrelated retailers. If most of them cluster around the same number, that is the real price.
Sale events are not automatically cheap
During large sale periods, some products reach genuine lows and others are re-listed at their normal price with a bigger banner. The only defence is knowing what the product cost the week before.
Bundles deserve extra suspicion: they are often the mechanism used to make an unchanged price look like a saving.
When waiting is the right answer
Wait if a replacement model is expected soon, if the current price is at or near list, or if the product has a known fault that a revision is likely to fix. Waiting is not the same as never buying — it is buying the same thing for less, or buying the better version.
Buy now, despite a mediocre price, when you need the item and the cost of not having it exceeds the likely saving. That is a legitimate reason and worth being honest with yourself about.
Do the check before you tap buy
Paste the product link into WorthCheck and you will get the price context, what owners report after long-term use, and the alternatives worth considering — in about a minute, before the money leaves your account.
Where to start
Ask: what does it normally sell for?
The one question that removes most bad purchases. If you cannot answer it, you cannot judge the deal.
Ask: is a new model imminent?
Either wait for it, or buy the outgoing one deliberately at a real discount.
Ask: what does the second year cost?
Consumables, batteries and parts decide the true price of most hardware.
Get a verdict on a specific model
Guides narrow the field; WorthCheck decides the purchase. Run the model you are considering for a price assessment, owner complaints and better alternatives.