Is that deal actually real — or did the retailer inflate the original price to manufacture a bigger discount? Enter the numbers and find out.
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Retailers commonly inflate pre-sale prices by 30–50% in the weeks before Black Friday to manufacture larger discounts. A genuine Black Friday deal in electronics is typically 20%+ off the item's normal selling price — not the inflated “original” price. Enter the prices below to find out if your deal is real.
Built by Pierre — MBA, Business Strategist & AI Consultant, Founder of DayblipAbout the author →
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The “was” or “regular” price shown crossed out on the tag
The % off advertised by the retailer — leave blank to skip inflation check
Frequently Asked Questions
Retailers commonly raise the listed "original" or "regular" price in the weeks before Black Friday so the discounted price looks like a bigger deal than it is. A TV that normally sells for $700 might be listed at $1,200 in October so the $699 Black Friday price looks like a 42% discount when the real savings is only $1 off the normal price. The FTC requires that "original" prices reflect prices the item was actually sold at for a substantial period — but enforcement is limited and the practice is widespread.
A genuine Black Friday deal is a discount from the item's actual normal selling price — not an inflated pre-sale price. For electronics a real deal is typically 20% or more off the price the item sold for during October. For clothing 40%+ is common and expected given retail margins. The best way to verify a deal is to check the item's price history using tools like CamelCamelCamel for Amazon products or Honey for other retailers.
Financing a Black Friday deal almost always eliminates the savings. A $699 TV financed at 28% APR (typical store card) over 12 months costs $826 total — $127 more than the sale price and potentially more than the item's regular price. If you cannot pay cash for a Black Friday item you likely cannot afford it. The only exception is 0% APR promotional financing where no interest is charged if paid in full before the promotional period ends.
Electronics prices are lowest during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, January (post-holiday clearance), and when new models are released (previous generation drops in price). TVs are cheapest in January and February before the Super Bowl. Laptops drop in August during back-to-school sales. The worst time to buy is in the weeks before Black Friday when retailers raise prices to manufacture the appearance of larger discounts.
Opportunity cost is what you give up by spending money instead of saving or investing it. $699 spent on a TV is $699 that cannot grow in an investment account. At a 7% average annual return — the long-term historical average of the S&P 500 — $699 grows to approximately $1,375 in 10 years. This does not mean you should never buy anything — it means every purchase should be weighed against what that money could become. Dayblip's calculator shows this figure to make the trade-off visible.
Three tools: CamelCamelCamel.com tracks Amazon price history — paste any Amazon URL to see the price over time. Honey browser extension tracks prices across multiple retailers and alerts you to price drops. Google Shopping shows current prices from multiple retailers for easy comparison. If the item was selling for close to the "sale" price before November the Black Friday discount is manufactured. This Dayblip calculator flags when the advertised discount does not match the real price difference.
Methodology: Deal authenticity assessed by comparing advertised discount to calculated real discount from prices entered. Inflation flagged when discrepancy exceeds 5 percentage points. Category thresholds (electronics 20%, appliances 25%, clothing 40%, toys 30%, furniture 35%, tools 25%) based on typical Black Friday deal quality benchmarks from Consumer Reports and NerdWallet annual Black Friday analysis. Opportunity cost calculated at 7% annual return — the long-term historical average annual return of the S&P 500 (source: NYU Stern School of Business). Financing calculated using standard amortization formula. Average store card APR of 28–32% from Federal Reserve Consumer Credit data 2024. This tool provides estimates for informational purposes — actual deal value depends on individual circumstances and normal price history of specific items.
