1. We record what things actually cost
Every product we track is re-read automatically through the day, and each reading is written to a price history that we keep permanently. We record a reading when the price moves and also on a fixed heartbeat when it does not — a price that held steady for a fortnight is a fact about that product, and a history that only stored changes could not tell it apart from a product nobody looked at.
Readings come from the retailer's own product page. We do not take price history from other price-tracking sites.
2. We wait until we have enough to say anything
A product discovered yesterday has one recorded price. Calling that "the lowest price we have seen" would be true and worthless, so we say nothing at all until a product has at least 4 readings spanning at least 7 days. Until then its page shows the readings we do have and no verdict. Most newly added products sit in that state for about a week.
We also refuse readings that cannot be right. A price far below or far above a product's normal range is usually a bad capture — retailers sometimes serve a different size or variant of the same listing — and letting one into the history would distort every later comparison against it.
3. What each verdict means
Once there is enough history, we compare the price showing now against every reading we hold for that product over the last 90 days. These are the only labels we use, and this is exactly what each one means:
- Lowest we've seen
- The lowest price we have recorded in 90 days.
- Near its lowest
- Within 3% of the lowest price we have recorded.
- Good price
- Cheaper than 75% of the readings we have taken.
- Typical price
- In the middle of the range we have recorded for this product.
- Above its usual
- More expensive than 75% of the readings we have taken.
"Readings" means our recorded observations of the price, not days — a price that sat high for a month and dipped this morning will still read as above its usual, because that is what our record says.
4. The three lists, and the different claims they make
- Lowest prices
- Products at, or within 3% of, the cheapest price we have ever recorded for them. A statement about standing.
- Biggest price drops
- Products now below a price we watched them sell at recently. A statement about movement — never a discount off a list price.
- Today's deals
- Everything posted in the last 24 hours, whatever the basis for it.
5. Where a "was" price comes from
When we show a crossed-out price, it is a price we recorded the product selling at, whenever we have one. Only when we have no such reading do we fall back to the manufacturer's list price — and when we do, the page says so, because the two are not equally good evidence. A list price is set partly to make a discount look larger.
6. What we do not publish
We record retailer star ratings and review counts but do not display them anywhere, because republishing them needs a licence we do not hold. We do not reproduce price history from other price-tracking services. And we do not accept payment for placement: nothing on this site is ranked by anything other than the data described above.
7. How we make money
TheLowPrice.com earns a commission when you buy through one of our links, at no extra cost to you. That is the entire business model — there are no sponsored placements and no paid listings. It also means we have an obvious interest in you clicking, which is why the standard behind every label on this site is written down on this page rather than left to a word like "great". See our affiliate disclosure.
8. When we get it wrong
Prices move between our reading and your click, and a capture can be wrong. The retailer's own page is always the authority on what you will pay. If you spot a price on this site that is wrong, tell us — it is the fastest way to get it corrected, and a wrong reading is worth correcting in the history too.