The Dark Side of Online Shopping Sales: Is 90% of the Deals Just an Illusion?
How Inflated Prices, Manipulative Marketing, and Digital Fraud Exploit Shoppers During Mega Sale Events
Every year, millions of people wait for major online shopping festivals, hoping to buy smartphones, laptops, clothing, home appliances, beauty products, and everyday essentials at extraordinary prices. Shopping platforms advertise massive savings, flashing banners promise once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, and countdown timers warn customers that their favourite products may soon sell out.
A product originally priced at ₹50,000 suddenly appears for ₹9,999. A pair of shoes supposedly worth ₹10,000 is advertised for ₹999. A beauty product that normally sells for ₹1,499 is presented as an exclusive sale-season bargain at ₹499.
The message is simple: buy now, or miss out.
But there is a fundamental question every consumer should ask before celebrating such an offer: Is the discount genuine, or is the original price creating an illusion of savings?
The problem is real. Misleading reference prices, artificial discount claims, perpetual sales, hidden charges, and fraudulent shopping websites have all attracted scrutiny from consumer-protection authorities and independent researchers. A European Commission investigation published in March 2026 found that 30% of 314 online traders examined during a coordinated screening of Black Friday and Cyber Monday practices had incorrectly referenced discounts. Separately, an investigation by Consumers’ Checkbook, published in November 2025, reported widespread use of questionable sale pricing among 25 major retailers it tracked.
These findings reveal a serious consumer-protection problem. However, they do not establish that 90% of all online sale-season deals worldwide are fake. That sweeping statistic requires evidence that is not established by these investigations.
Nevertheless, the underlying issue deserves attention. When shoppers cannot distinguish genuine savings from manufactured discounts, the advertised percentage becomes a marketing instrument rather than reliable information about value.
1. The 90% Discount Illusion: Why the Original Price Matters
Imagine that you see a smartphone advertised with the following price information:
Original price: ₹50,000
Sale price: ₹19,999
Advertised discount: 60% off
At first glance, the offer appears excellent. You may assume that you are saving ₹30,001 and acquiring a product worth substantially more than you are paying.
But what if the same smartphone has been selling for ₹21,000 for several weeks?
In that case, the sale price of ₹19,999 represents a reduction of just ₹1,001 from its recent selling price, not ₹30,001. The advertised percentage creates a very different impression from the product’s actual price history.
The same problem becomes even more dramatic when a seller advertises a discount of 80%, 90%, or more.
Consider another hypothetical example. A product is assigned a reference price of ₹10,000 but is consistently available for ₹2,000. During a sale, it is listed for ₹1,500, with a banner announcing an 85% discount.
The calculation is mathematically correct if ₹10,000 is used as the reference price. Yet the discount is misleading if that reference price does not represent a meaningful, genuine former selling price.
The central question is not whether the arithmetic is correct. It is whether the starting price provides an honest basis for comparison.
A discount can be mathematically accurate and commercially misleading at the same time.
2. How Artificial Price Inflation Works
One of the most controversial pricing practices is the use of an inflated reference price to make a reduction appear more generous than it really is.
This practice is commonly described as fictitious reference pricing, misleading discounting, or fake discounting. Price anchoring is the related psychological mechanism through which the higher price influences how consumers perceive the lower one.
A hypothetical example illustrates the process.
Suppose a seller wants to sell a household appliance for ₹4,000. Instead of advertising it at that price, the seller displays a reference price of ₹12,000 and advertises the product for ₹4,000 during a shopping festival.
The customer sees a claimed saving of ₹8,000, or approximately 67%.
However, if the product was never genuinely sold at ₹12,000, the apparent saving may be largely fictional. The buyer is paying ₹4,000 for the appliance, not recovering ₹8,000 that would otherwise have been lost.
Several practices can create this impression.
Temporarily increasing a displayed price: A seller may raise a price before a sale event and then reduce it, creating the appearance of a substantial discount. Whether this is unlawful depends on the facts and applicable rules, but using a contrived reference price to mislead consumers is a serious concern.
Displaying an inflated recommended retail price: A listing may compare the current price with a manufacturer’s recommended retail price that is substantially higher than the price at which the product is ordinarily available. A recommended price is not necessarily the same as a genuine previous selling price.
Keeping products on permanent sale: A retailer may repeatedly display a product as discounted even though the supposed regular price is rarely, if ever, charged. When a sale becomes the normal state of affairs, the claimed saving becomes less informative.
Comparing different products: A listing may compare a sale product with a more expensive model, a different configuration, or a product with features the discounted version does not possess. The comparison can make the offer look more attractive without establishing equivalent value.
Using a high introductory price: A product may launch at a high price and subsequently receive a large reduction. That reduction might be genuine, but the original price alone does not establish whether the current price is competitive or reasonable.
These practices are not identical, and not every large discount is deceptive. A product can genuinely fall in price because of competition, a new model, excess inventory, changing demand, or a retailer’s decision to accept a smaller profit margin.
The distinction is between a real price reduction and a presentation that exaggerates the reduction or misleads consumers about the product’s normal value.
3. The Psychology Behind Fake Discounts
Why do people respond so strongly to a large percentage discount, even when they have little information about the product’s actual market price?
The answer lies partly in behavioural economics and the way people make decisions under uncertainty.
Price anchoring
When people encounter a price, the first prominent number can influence their subsequent judgments.
If a product is presented as costing ₹20,000 before a reduction to ₹8,000, the higher figure becomes a reference point. The lower price can feel inexpensive in comparison, even if similar products are regularly available for ₹8,000.
This is known as the anchoring effect.
The original price becomes a mental benchmark. Rather than independently estimating what the product should cost, shoppers may evaluate the offer against the number supplied by the seller.
This makes reference pricing particularly powerful in online shopping, where customers may have limited time to research products before making a purchase.
The illusion of savings
A discount banner encourages shoppers to focus on the money they supposedly save rather than the amount they actually spend.
A person considering a ₹15,000 purchase may hesitate when viewing the final price alone. But when the same product is presented as a reduction from ₹40,000, the purchase may suddenly appear financially sensible.
The shopper’s attention shifts from the question “Do I need this product at this price?” to “How much money will I save if I buy it now?”
This shift can turn unnecessary expenditure into something that feels like financial prudence.
But avoiding an unnecessary purchase saves the entire amount. Buying something you do not need at a discount still costs money.
Fear of missing out
Limited-time offers, countdown clocks, low-stock notifications, and warnings that prices will rise soon can make shoppers feel that waiting is dangerous.
The consumer may fear losing the opportunity more than they fear making the wrong purchase.
Sometimes these warnings reflect real inventory constraints or genuine promotional deadlines. At other times, they may create an exaggerated sense of urgency.
A countdown timer is not proof of deception by itself. But a timer that repeatedly resets, or a scarcity claim unsupported by actual availability, deserves skepticism.
The emotional reward of finding a bargain
Shopping can produce a feeling of achievement. Finding an advertised discount of 70% or 90% may make the consumer feel intelligent, resourceful, and financially disciplined.
That emotional reward can become more important than the product’s actual utility.
The buyer may remember the supposed bargain rather than whether the item was needed, whether its quality was satisfactory, or whether a better alternative existed.
This is one reason discount marketing can be so effective: it sells not only a product but also the feeling of having made a clever decision.
4. What Research Reveals About Misleading Online Discounts
The concern about fake discounts is not merely theoretical. Investigations and behavioural research have identified concrete problems with how some retailers communicate prices.
In March 2026, the European Commission and consumer-protection authorities from 23 European Union countries, together with Iceland and Norway, reported findings from a coordinated screening of online sales practices associated with Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Among 314 online traders examined, 30% referenced discounts incorrectly. The investigation also found that 34% displayed price comparisons without clearly explaining the origin of the reference prices, and that 18% used pressure-selling techniques, more than half of which were considered misleading.
These figures need to be interpreted carefully. The 30% finding relates to the traders examined in that particular screening, not 30% of every retailer worldwide or 30% of every deal. Likewise, the findings about pressure selling and reference-price explanations measure different practices and should not be combined into a single estimate of fake deals.
In another investigation published in November 2025, Consumers’ Checkbook tracked prices for six months at 25 major retailers. It reported that supposed discounts were frequently displayed on products and that, at 12 of the 25 companies, more than half of the tracked items were offered at what the organisation identified as false discounts every week or almost every week it checked.
The significance of these investigations is that sale pricing should be evaluated against actual pricing behaviour, not merely the size of a discount label.
Behavioural research published by the European Union’s Publications Office has also examined how the presentation of price reductions influences consumer decisions. The research found that misleading presentations of discounts can confuse shoppers and significantly increase the likelihood of purchasing affected products. Participants frequently accepted displayed discount percentages as genuine, even when the information needed to identify misleading reference prices was available to them.
The broader lesson is important: transparency cannot depend entirely on consumers recognising sophisticated pricing tactics on their own. Clear rules, reliable price histories, meaningful enforcement, and accessible comparisons are also necessary.
5. Why a Genuine Product Can Still Have a Misleading Discount
A common misconception is that a misleading discount necessarily means that the product itself is counterfeit, defective, or fraudulent.
That is not always the case.
A genuine branded product can be advertised with an exaggerated reference price. An authentic smartphone can carry a misleading discount banner. A legitimate retailer can use questionable promotional language. Conversely, a product sold at a genuinely low price can still be counterfeit, misrepresented, or unsafe.
The product’s authenticity and the accuracy of the discount claim are separate questions.
To evaluate an offer properly, consumers need to investigate at least three things:
First, is the product genuine and does it match the advertised description?
Second, is the sale price genuinely lower than a meaningful comparison price?
Third, is the final transaction safe, transparent, and supported by an adequate return or dispute-resolution process?
A discount badge answers none of these questions by itself.
6. Fake Discounts and Cyber-Scams Are Different Threats
Artificial discounting is only one part of the problem. A second, more dangerous category involves fraudulent shopping operations that use attractive offers to obtain money, payment information, or personal data.
These threats should not be confused.
Misleading discounting
In misleading discounting, a seller may offer a real product at a real price but exaggerate the saving by using an inappropriate or inflated reference price.
The consumer may receive the item as promised, yet have been misled about the bargain.
Counterfeit and misrepresented products
In these cases, the customer may receive an imitation, an inferior substitute, an item with different specifications, or a product that does not match the advertisement.
A discount may be genuine relative to the seller’s asking price, but the underlying product may not be worth that price.
Non-delivery scams
A fraudulent website or seller may advertise extraordinary discounts, collect payments, and never deliver the goods.
Such operations may disappear after collecting money, provide fabricated tracking information, or make refunds difficult or impossible.
Phishing and payment theft
Some scam websites imitate familiar retailers or create convincing storefronts around major shopping events. Their purpose may be to persuade customers to enter card details, banking credentials, passwords, or one-time verification codes.
The apparent discount serves as bait. The actual objective is financial or identity-related theft.
Fake shopping applications and impersonation
Fraudsters may distribute applications, advertisements, messages, or social media posts that imitate well-known brands. Customers can be redirected to fraudulent payment pages or persuaded to install malicious software.
The presence of a familiar logo is not proof that a website, advertisement, or application is genuine.
These categories can overlap, but they require different responses. Price-history tools can help identify questionable discounts; secure payment practices, official websites, and seller verification are essential for reducing the risk of cyber-scams.
A shopper should therefore investigate both the price and the seller.
7. The Problem Across Major E-Commerce Marketplaces
The concern extends across the international online shopping industry. Consumers encounter promotional pricing on marketplaces and retail websites such as Amazon, Flipkart, Walmart, eBay, Alibaba, AliExpress, Etsy, Temu, Shopee, Lazada, Rakuten, Mercado Libre, JD.com, Target, Best Buy, Myntra, Ajio, Meesho, Nykaa, and Snapdeal.
However, naming these platforms does not establish that each one engages in fake discounting, nor does it prove that 90% of their offers are deceptive. These companies operate in different markets, use different business models, and host different combinations of sellers and products. A marketplace’s overall reputation also does not establish the accuracy of every individual listing.
Some platforms sell products directly, some facilitate transactions between independent sellers and customers, and some combine both approaches. This distinction matters because the source of a price claim, the identity of the seller, and the platform’s mechanisms for handling complaints can vary.
The appropriate approach is to evaluate individual listings, sellers, product histories, and platform policies rather than assume that every offer on a named website is either trustworthy or fraudulent.
Amazon and Flipkart
Large marketplaces offer a mixture of branded products, independent sellers, promotional campaigns, bank offers, and exchange deals. A product’s displayed discount may be calculated against a list price, while its actual market price can be influenced by competition, seller choices, and additional conditions.
Consumers should distinguish the product’s base price from the final price after eligible discounts. They should also check whether an advertised bank offer is available to them and whether an exchange value depends on the condition of an old device.
Walmart, Target, and Best Buy
Major retailers in the United States compete through seasonal promotions, clearance sales, and special shopping events. A reduction may reflect genuine competition or inventory clearance, but an advertised comparison price should still be examined critically.
Comparing prices across retailers and checking historical prices can reveal whether a promotion offers an unusual saving or simply reflects a product’s ordinary selling price.
Alibaba, AliExpress, Temu, Shopee, Lazada, and Mercado Libre
Cross-border and marketplace shopping can introduce additional complications. Product specifications, shipping charges, import duties, delivery times, seller histories, and return conditions may differ significantly between listings.
A very low advertised price may also apply only to a particular variant, a new-customer promotion, a limited quantity, or a conditional bundle.
Consumers should verify the exact item and the complete cost before ordering. Where a seller’s identity, delivery promise, or refund terms are unclear, an apparently exceptional discount may not justify the risk.
Etsy and other specialist marketplaces
Specialist marketplaces may offer handmade, vintage, customised, or independently produced goods. Their products are not always directly comparable with mass-produced retail items.
A claimed discount from a seller’s own reference price may be less informative than the product’s materials, workmanship, originality, reviews, and comparable alternatives.
The important question is whether the seller accurately represents both the product and the claimed saving.
Myntra, Ajio, Meesho, Nykaa, and Snapdeal
In India’s fashion, beauty, and general merchandise markets, seasonal promotions may combine marked-down prices, coupons, payment offers, loyalty benefits, and seller-specific discounts.
A product’s final cost can differ from its headline price after conditions are applied. Customers should examine the exact size, shade, model, quantity, seller, shipping fee, return policy, and final checkout amount.
A dramatic discount is not a substitute for verifying authenticity, especially for branded apparel, cosmetics, skincare, and other products where quality and safety matter.
Across all these marketplaces, the same principle applies: evaluate the specific offer rather than relying on the brand name or the percentage printed beside the product.
8. India: Fake Discounting and Consumer Protection
India’s rapidly expanding e-commerce market makes transparent pricing particularly important. Major sale events attract customers seeking smartphones, electronics, fashion, appliances, cosmetics, and household products, often while managing tight budgets.
Indian consumer-protection rules address misleading advertising and unfair practices in online commerce.
The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, provides the broader legal framework for protecting consumers against unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements. The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, establish obligations for e-commerce entities and address consumer-facing disclosures and grievance mechanisms.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority has also issued Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023. These address deceptive or manipulative online design practices, including drip pricing, bait and switch, and false urgency.
Drip pricing occurs when additional charges are revealed late in the purchasing process or are not made sufficiently clear upfront. Bait and switch involves advertising one outcome to attract a consumer and then deceptively steering them toward another. False urgency can involve misleading signals that a deal or product is about to disappear.
These practices matter because a shopping experience can be misleading even when the headline price is not itself fabricated.
For example, a product may initially appear inexpensive, but mandatory fees or other charges may emerge later. An advertised product may be shown as available to encourage a purchase journey, only for the shopper to be redirected to a more expensive alternative. A countdown may pressure a customer into completing an order without adequate time to compare prices.
India’s consumer-protection framework does not mean that every large discount is illegal or that every questionable listing has been adjudicated. Whether a particular practice violates the law depends on its facts and the applicable requirements.
Consumers who believe they have encountered misleading pricing, unfair trade practices, or a fraudulent transaction should preserve the listing, advertised price, order details, payment receipt, and seller communications. They can then approach the platform’s grievance mechanism and consider the appropriate consumer-protection or financial-fraud reporting channel.
The objective should be to establish what was represented, what was charged, and what was delivered.
9. Why Governments Are Focusing on Reference Prices
One of the most direct ways to address misleading discounts is to require sellers to use a meaningful reference price.
In the European Union, rules governing price reductions generally require a seller announcing a reduction to use the lowest price applied during at least the preceding 30 days as the reference price, subject to applicable exceptions and national implementation.
The purpose is straightforward: a retailer should not be able to manufacture an apparently enormous saving simply by choosing an artificially high starting figure.
A historical reference price allows consumers to compare the advertised offer with an actual price charged in the recent past.
However, a 30-day reference price is not a complete measure of value. A product can be expensive relative to the wider market even when its discount is calculated correctly. A genuine reduction from last month’s price does not necessarily make an item the best available deal today.
That is why consumer protection requires more than one safeguard. Price-reduction rules should be supported by clear advertising, transparent fees, seller accountability, enforcement against deception, and accessible information about comparable products.
The ultimate goal is not to prohibit discounts. It is to make discount claims meaningful.
10. How to Identify a Genuine Deal Before Buying
Consumers do not need to become professional investigators to make better purchasing decisions. A few practical habits can substantially improve their ability to evaluate offers.
Check the price history
Before buying an expensive product, examine its price over several weeks or months when reliable historical data is available.
Look for repeated cycles in which a high displayed price is followed by a large discount, only for the product to return to the same selling price later.
Price history is especially useful for electronics, appliances, and other products with identifiable model numbers.
However, price trackers may have incomplete data, may not capture every seller or coupon, and may not include all payment or exchange conditions. Use them as evidence, not as infallible records.
Compare the exact product across sellers
Check the precise model number, storage capacity, colour, size, generation, and included accessories.
A phone with less storage is not equivalent to a higher-capacity model. A different appliance model may have different features. A clothing listing may apply the discount only to selected sizes or colours.
Comparisons are meaningful only when the products and purchasing conditions are sufficiently similar.
Focus on the final price
The amount payable at checkout matters more than the headline discount.
Check delivery charges, platform fees, applicable taxes, coupon requirements, minimum purchase thresholds, payment restrictions, and exchange conditions.
If a product is advertised for ₹5,000 but the final amount is ₹5,700, evaluate the offer using the actual payable amount.
Investigate the seller
Read recent reviews critically, check seller history where available, and look for consistent information about the business.
Be cautious of listings with suspiciously repetitive reviews, unexplained changes in seller identity, inconsistent product descriptions, or unusually poor complaint-resolution records.
A large number of positive ratings does not guarantee authenticity, but a pattern of credible, detailed customer experiences can provide useful evidence.
Treat extreme discounts as a reason to investigate
A 90% discount is not automatically fraudulent. Clearance items, discontinued products, unusual inventory situations, and certain low-cost goods can legitimately receive very large reductions.
Nevertheless, an exceptionally large discount on a high-demand branded smartphone, premium laptop, or luxury product warrants careful verification, especially when combined with an unfamiliar seller or unusual payment instructions.
The larger the apparent bargain, the more important it is to verify the product, the seller, and the reference price.
Avoid risky payment arrangements
Use payment methods that provide appropriate transaction records and dispute options. Avoid sending money directly to an unknown seller through irreversible transfers merely to obtain an additional discount.
Never disclose banking passwords, payment PINs, or one-time verification codes to someone claiming to help complete a purchase.
If a supposed retailer requests unusual payment procedures, insists on leaving the official platform, or pressures you to act immediately, stop and verify the transaction independently.
Read return and refund conditions
A low price may be less attractive if the product cannot be returned, the warranty is unclear, or the seller provides no credible process for resolving disputes.
Understand the applicable conditions before paying, particularly for electronics, cosmetics, personalised goods, and imported products.
Ask whether you would buy it without the discount banner
This is one of the most useful questions a consumer can ask.
Imagine that the product is displayed at ₹4,999 with no crossed-out price, countdown timer, or claim of 80% savings.
Would you still consider it worth ₹4,999?
If the answer is no, the advertised discount may be doing more work than the product’s actual value.
11. A Simple Method for Calculating the Real Saving
Suppose a product’s lowest verified price during the relevant comparison period was ₹6,000, and the current price is ₹5,400.
The saving relative to that reference price is:
(₹6,000 − ₹5,400) ÷ ₹6,000 × 100 = 10%
Now suppose the seller advertises the same product as reduced from ₹15,000 to ₹5,400.
The displayed reduction is 64%, but the verified comparison shows a reduction of only 10%.
The two percentages answer different questions because they use different starting prices.
Even the 10% figure should be interpreted carefully. The lowest price from a historical period does not establish the product’s value relative to every competing retailer, and the final saving may be different once delivery charges or conditional discounts are included.
A useful way to assess an offer is to compare three figures:
- The advertised original price.
- The lowest reliably documented recent price.
- The final price payable, compared with equivalent offers elsewhere.
The difference between these numbers can reveal whether the headline discount accurately communicates the bargain.
12. Why Consumers Often Discover the Problem Too Late
Many shoppers do not investigate prices until after they have made a purchase. By that stage, the emotional excitement of the sale has passed, and discovering a cheaper alternative can produce frustration or regret.
Several factors contribute to this pattern.
Shopping festivals create a sense of collective urgency. Advertising campaigns repeatedly tell customers that everyone is buying, prices are falling, and opportunities are disappearing.
Consumers also face information overload. A single product may have dozens of sellers, different variants, competing coupons, payment offers, and constantly changing prices. Carefully checking every listing requires time and effort.
Finally, a displayed discount is easy to understand, while a product’s genuine market value is more difficult to estimate. The seller supplies the convenient number, and the consumer may accept it because independent verification takes work.
These conditions create an information imbalance. Retailers and sellers often have more information about their pricing strategies than individual customers do.
Better price-history tools, clearer reference-price disclosures, comparable product listings, and stronger enforcement can reduce that imbalance. Consumers can improve their own decisions, but the responsibility for honest advertising should not fall entirely on them.
13. The Hidden Economic Cost of Fake Discounts
Misleading pricing can cause harm beyond the amount paid for a single product.
First, it can distort household budgets. Consumers may spend money on purchases they would otherwise postpone or avoid because an exaggerated discount makes the expenditure appear financially beneficial.
Second, it can weaken competition. A seller using a misleading reference price may appear to offer a much better deal than a competitor whose pricing is more transparent. Consumers may choose the apparently cheaper offer without realising that the comparison is distorted.
Third, it can damage trust. When customers repeatedly encounter misleading promotions, they may become sceptical of legitimate discounts and less willing to trust online sellers.
Fourth, it can reward manipulative marketing over product quality, reliable service, and fair pricing. If consumers are primarily attracted by enormous displayed discounts, honest businesses may feel pressure to adopt similar tactics to remain competitive.
Finally, it can normalise unnecessary consumption. Shopping festivals encourage customers to buy more products, often by framing spending as a way to save money.
A marketplace works best when customers can compare products and prices with reasonable confidence. Misleading discounts undermine that process by making the information used to choose between sellers less reliable.
14. What Online Marketplaces Should Do
Consumer education is important, but platforms also have a role in making online shopping more transparent.
Maintain meaningful price histories. Platforms should make it easier to understand how a product’s price has changed over time, with clear explanations of what the history includes and excludes.
Explain reference prices. A listing should distinguish between a genuine previous selling price, a manufacturer’s recommended price, and other comparison figures.
Monitor suspicious pricing patterns. Automated systems and human review can help identify repeated price increases immediately before promotions, implausible discount claims, and other patterns that warrant investigation.
Make the final price clear. Mandatory charges and important conditions should be disclosed early enough for consumers to compare offers meaningfully.
Improve seller accountability. Marketplaces should provide accessible seller information, complaint mechanisms, and appropriate responses when sellers repeatedly misrepresent products or prices.
Reduce deceptive urgency. Countdown timers and scarcity messages should reflect genuine conditions rather than merely pressure customers to complete purchases.
Provide effective remedies. Customers need a practical way to report misleading offers, challenge transactions, seek refunds where justified, and escalate unresolved complaints.
These measures would not eliminate every form of deception. But they would make it harder for misleading pricing to flourish unnoticed and easier for consumers to distinguish a real bargain from a manufactured one.
15. The Future of Online Shopping: More Data, More Personalisation, and New Risks
As online retail becomes more sophisticated, pricing transparency will become even more important.
Retailers can change prices rapidly in response to competition, demand, inventory, promotional campaigns, and other commercial factors. Personalised offers, targeted coupons, and customer-specific promotions can make it harder for shoppers to determine whether two people are receiving comparable deals.
Dynamic pricing is not inherently deceptive. Prices can legitimately change with market conditions, and targeted discounts can benefit customers.
The concern arises when personalisation, opaque comparisons, or the use of consumer data prevents shoppers from understanding the terms on which they are buying.
Artificial intelligence may make both sides of this problem more pronounced. Retailers can use automated systems to optimise prices and promotions, while consumers can use price-comparison tools to identify unusual patterns. Fraudsters can also use sophisticated website designs, convincing product images, and personalised messages to make fraudulent offers appear credible.
Technology alone will not solve the problem. Trustworthy information, transparent rules, effective enforcement, and careful consumer behaviour will remain essential.
The most useful future shopping tools will not merely tell people that a product is discounted. They will help answer a more important question: discounted compared with what?
A Big Discount Is a Claim, Not Proof of a Bargain
The idea that 90% of all online sale-season deals are fake is a powerful warning, but it should not be mistaken for a proven global statistic. Available investigations establish that misleading discounts are a genuine and measurable problem, without proving that nine out of every ten deals are deceptive.
That distinction matters because the purpose of consumer protection is not to make shoppers distrust every retailer. It is to help them distinguish trustworthy offers from misleading ones.
A genuine discount can be an excellent opportunity to buy a needed product at a lower price. A fabricated reference price, by contrast, can make an ordinary transaction look extraordinary. A fraudulent website can use the same promise of savings to steal money or personal information.
The answer is not to avoid every shopping festival. It is to approach the advertised discount with a more useful set of questions.
What was the product actually selling for before the sale? Is the advertised reference price meaningful? Is the seller trustworthy? What is the final amount payable? Can the product be compared with equivalent offers elsewhere? Are the payment, warranty, and refund conditions clear?
These questions turn shopping from an emotional reaction into an informed decision.
Ultimately, the most important number on a shopping page is not the percentage written in a bright red banner. It is the amount you pay for a product whose quality, authenticity, and value you have independently assessed.
A 90% discount does not automatically mean a 90% saving. Sometimes the biggest saving comes from recognising that a supposed bargain was never a bargain in the first place.
