How proof works
A dramatic-looking discount never outruns what our records can actually establish. These are the rules every deal must pass.
Where a price can come from
- Our records: a price we recorded directly from the retailer's catalog during a completed scan. This is the only source that can back an “observed drop.”
- The retailer's claim: a compare-at or “was” price the store supplies. We show it, labeled as their number, and never pretend we witnessed it.
- A live check: a fresh look at the exact product page, price, and availability before anything gets a verified label.
The four labels
They are deliberately not interchangeable. Observed means our own records prove the price was higher. Retailer-listed means the store claims it. Verified in stock means we just checked the exact item. Expired means the deal ended. It stays on the record instead of being deleted.
Publication rules
- Exact prices are primary; displayed percentages never round upward.
- Timestamps are absolute dates and times, never a permanently stale “12 minutes ago.”
- Product images come from the retailer's own archived images, never an AI recreation.
- An ended deal is marked expired, not silently deleted. Corrections append to the record instead of rewriting it.
- Affiliate commission never changes eligibility, ranking, or truth labels. See our disclosure.
A deal's life
Withheld until verified
A candidate stays private until its source, exact variant, current price, and availability pass the rules above.
Published with its source
Every published deal says whether the history is ours or the retailer's claim.
Live only while fresh
The shop link appears only while the exact item has a fresh verified price and stock state.
Expired, never erased
A price change or sellout marks the receipt expired. The evidence stays.
The record itself
PriceCrater began retaining product-level price, stock, and retailer-claim changes on August 18, 2026. We won’t pretend to have history we don’t. Charts and evidence pages appear only once the records can back them.