What Are Discounts and How Can You Find the Best Deals Online?
Discounts are price reductions a retailer applies to a product, either temporarily or permanently, and they generally fall into four practical types: coupon codes, percentage-off sales, clearance markdowns, and cashback. The fastest way to tell whether a discount is real is to compare the same product's price across several stores before checkout, then check store and product reviews to confirm the seller and item are legitimate. This applies to any online purchase where you can identify the exact model, size, or SKU — without that match, a price comparison tells you very little.
The main types of discounts
Each type works differently, so the way you capture the savings differs too.
| Type | How it works | Where you usually apply it |
|---|---|---|
| Coupon code | A short code entered at checkout that reduces the total or a specific item | Checkout page, promo field |
| Percentage off | A storewide or category-wide markdown applied automatically | Already reflected in the listed price |
| Clearance | Permanent or seasonal markdown to move remaining stock | Product listing price |
| Cashback | A portion of the spend returned after purchase, often via a third party | After checkout, through the cashback provider |
The key difference is timing. Coupon codes and cashback require an action from you; percentage-off sales and clearance are usually baked into the price you see. That matters because a "sale" price and a coupon can sometimes stack, and sometimes cannot — the store's terms decide.
How to verify a discount is genuine
A discount is only meaningful relative to a real baseline price. Two checks do most of the work:
- Compare across stores. Search the exact product name and model, then look at what multiple retailers charge. If the "discounted" price is close to everyone else's normal price, the markdown is mostly marketing.
- Check the original price claim. A crossed-out "was" price is only useful if it reflects what the item actually sold for recently. If a product is perpetually listed as 50% off, the higher price was likely never the real selling price.
Bizrate is built around exactly this kind of comparison — it aggregates prices, store ratings, and customer reviews so you can see how a merchant stacks up before you buy. That combination is what separates a verifiable deal from a claimed one.
Using reviews to avoid bad deals
A low price on a poorly rated store is not a good deal. Reviews help in two directions:
- Store ratings tell you whether the merchant ships on time, honors returns, and resolves problems. A deep discount from a store with consistent complaints about non-delivery is a risk, not a saving.
- Product reviews tell you whether the item itself is worth any price. A heavily discounted product with repeated reports of defects or misrepresentation is a false economy.
Read the middle of the rating distribution rather than the extremes — the 2- and 3-star reviews usually describe the specific failure modes you'd actually encounter.
Practical steps to find and apply discounts
- Identify the exact product (model number, size, color) so comparisons are valid.
- Compare prices across several stores for that exact item.
- Check the store's rating and recent customer reviews.
- Look for a coupon code or an active sitewide sale before checkout.
- Enter the code in the promo field and confirm the total actually changed.
- If you're using cashback, confirm the purchase tracked before relying on the return.
The expected result at step 5 is a visibly lower order total. If the number doesn't move, the code didn't apply — don't assume it worked.
Common pitfalls
- Expired codes. Coupon codes often have short windows. If a code is rejected, check the expiry date before assuming the store is at fault.
- Inflated original prices. A large percentage off means little if the "original" price was never charged.
- Exclusions. Many codes exclude sale items, specific brands, gift cards, or already-discounted products. Read the terms before building a purchase around a code.
- Stacking limits. Stores frequently allow only one code per order, so a second code may cancel the first.
- Cashback that doesn't track. If the purchase isn't recorded by the cashback provider, the return may never arrive — verify it soon after buying.
Bottom line
Treat a discount as a claim to verify, not a fact. Compare the exact product across stores, check the merchant's rating and reviews, then apply the code and confirm the total changed. That sequence catches inflated prices, expired codes, and unreliable sellers before they cost you money.