Guides
What the numbers on a product listing actually mean, written from the same matched dataset the rest of the site is built on.
Day by day: how many sale prices sat at their own low
On 12 October we counted how many Amazon and Flipkart prices were at their own lowest in three weeks: 64%, up from 29% before the sale. That was one day. This is the same test…
The new 30-day price rule, tried on this sale's prices
From 1 January 2027, when an online shop in India announces a price cut, it has to show a second price beside it: the lowest price the product was offered at in the previous 30…
Day five of the sale: how many prices are at their lowest?
Amazon's sale is on its fifth day and Flipkart's on its fourth. We've looked at day one on Amazon and on Flipkart, and at which record to measure against. The question we haven't…
The same sale price, measured against two records
Amazon's sale is in its third day and Flipkart's in its second. We've already run day one on Amazon and day one on Flipkart, each set against the weeks before the sale.
Day one of Flipkart's sale: most prices held
Flipkart's Big Billion Days opened today. Yesterday we ran the same check on Amazon's first day. This is Flipkart.
Day one of Amazon's sale: most prices came down
Amazon's Great Indian Festival opened to everyone today. Yesterday we published what prices did in the three weeks before it: mostly, they stayed put. So the obvious next question…
Before the sale, most prices stayed put
Prime members got early access to Amazon's Great Indian Festival today. Everyone else gets it tomorrow, 8 October, and Flipkart's Big Billion Days opens on 9 October.
The second price record: how we froze it, and what we won't change
Amazon's Great Indian Festival opens on Thursday 8 October, with Flipkart's Big Billion Days following on Friday 9 October. Flipkart Plus and Black members get access a day early.
· updated 07 Oct
Does paying more get you a better rated product?
Before a sale, the question people really have isn't whether a discount is real. It's whether the dearer one is worth it.
Trimmers under ₹2,000, where listings mostly agree on the MRP
We compared 25 trimmers selling under ₹2,000, each one checked across its own listings on the same day. This completes the set: we did the same for hair dryers and for…
What counts as a real deal, published before the sale
Correction, 12 October 2026. The figures in this article were wrong. We ran a stand-in for the deals page's test, not the test itself. The stand-in took each day's lowest reading…
MRP Mismatch Index, September 2026
In September 2026 we found 74 products where the Amazon and Flipkart listings showed a different MRP for the same item. The September edition was frozen on 30 September and will…
What prices did in the three weeks before the sale
Amazon's Great Indian Festival opens on 8 October. Flipkart's Big Billion Days opens on 9 October, with early access for Plus and Black members a day earlier.
What a four star average hides
A star average is one number doing the work of five. It tells you where the middle sits. It doesn't tell you whether buyers agreed.
Hair straighteners under ₹2,000, and what the badge is worth
We compared 18 hair styling tools that sell for under ₹2,000, each one checked across its listings on the same day. Five are plain straighteners. Seven are curlers, three are…
What had already got cheaper before the festive sale
Correction, 28 September 2026. This article first said the festive sale had started. It had not. Amazon's Great Indian Festival opens on 8 October and Flipkart's Big Billion Days…
· updated 28 Sep
Two weeks before the festive sale, most prices had not moved
Correction, 28 September 2026. This article first said the festive sale had started. It had not. Amazon's Great Indian Festival opens on 8 October and Flipkart's Big Billion Days…
· updated 28 Sep
Hair dryers under ₹2,000, and what the discount badge tells you
We compared 21 hair dryers that sell for under ₹2,000, each one checked across its listings on the same day. On 10 of them, the listings didn't agree on the MRP.
Where MRP disagreements cluster
In August 2026 we tracked 184 products that both Amazon and Flipkart carried. On 54 of them the listings on the two sites showed a different MRP for the same item. That's 29%, or…
When the same model code isn't the same thing to buy
A model code tells you which product a listing is selling. It does not tell you how many are in the box, whether something else comes with it, or which colour you will get.
The listings that sell at their full MRP
We track 361 listings that declare an MRP. Most of them carry a discount, on all three sites. The median discount is between 25% and 28% on each site.
How to read product ratings when shopping online
A star rating looks like a fact about a product. It is not. It is a fact about a product on one platform, from one set of buyers, at one point in time.
Trimmers under ₹1,000, and what their discount badges show
Sixteen trimmers sell under ₹1,000 on Amazon, Flipkart or Nykaa. The typical one carries a badge saying 42% off. Measured against what the same trimmer had actually been selling…
· updated 17 Sep
MRP Mismatch Index, August 2026
In August 2026 we found 54 products where the Amazon and Flipkart listings showed a different MRP for the same item. The August edition was frozen on 31 August and will not…
Can a shop sell above MRP in India?
No. If a price is printed on the pack as MRP, that is the most you can be charged for it, and every rupee above it is an offence.
· updated 17 Sep
How to find the model code on any product listing
If you want to check whether two listings are the same product, ignore the name and find the model code.
The tax rule that used to make an inflated MRP expensive
For twenty years, printing a higher MRP on a packaged product in India had a direct cost. It raised the excise duty the manufacturer owed on that product.
Why the same product shows different MRPs on Amazon and Flipkart
If the same product shows a different discount on Amazon and Flipkart while costing the same on both, the two listings show a different MRP, the maximum retail price the discount…
· updated 28 Sep
How to check whether an online discount is real
A discount badge is a claim about the past: it says the product used to be worth more. Nothing on the page proves that. The percentage is calculated from the MRP the listing…
· updated 28 Sep
What MRP actually means under India's Legal Metrology rules
Maximum Retail Price is not a suggestion, a list price, or a number a shop chooses. It is a declaration the manufacturer, packer or importer is legally required to print on a…
· updated 17 Sep