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Black Friday falls on November 27 this year, with Cyber Monday on November 30. But the discount season has already started. Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days run on October 6 and 7 in more than 20 countries, and in India the Amazon Great Indian Festival begins on October 8, with Flipkart’s Big Billion Days close behind.
That’s two months of banners shouting 40% off, 60% off and lowest price ever. Some of those deals are real. A lot of them aren’t. And in 2026 there’s an extra twist that makes judging tech deals harder than usual.
Here’s how to tell the difference in a couple of minutes, before you pay.
How Many Black Friday Deals Are Actually Real?
Fewer than the banners suggest. The UK consumer group Which? tracked 175 products across eight major retailers, including Amazon, Currys, Argos and John Lewis, for six months either side of Black Friday 2024, and published the results last November. It found that 83% of them were the same price or cheaper at least once outside the Black Friday period.
That doesn’t mean every Black Friday price is fake. It means the event mostly repeats prices that show up several times a year anyway. For a lot of products, Black Friday is a good time to buy, not the only time.
Why Tech Deals Are Harder to Judge in 2026
Normally, tech gets cheaper over time. This year, a lot of it is going the other way.
AI data centres are buying up memory chips, and that has pushed up the cost of RAM and storage in everything from laptops to phones. Gartner expects average PC prices to rise 17% by the end of 2026 and smartphone prices 13%, with memory costs up around 130%. Several laptop makers have already raised prices this year.
That changes how you should read a deal. A laptop “20% off” might just be back to what it cost in spring. Or it might be a real bargain on stock bought before prices climbed. The discount percentage won’t tell you which. Only the price history will.
The Six Tricks Behind Most Fake Discounts
- The Inflated “Was” Price
The most common trick is a crossed-out price the product barely ever sold at. A pair of headphones listed at “$349, now $199” looks like a huge saving. If they’ve sold for about $199 most of the year, it isn’t one.
In India, watch the MRP. The MRP is the legal maximum a seller can charge, not the price people normally pay. A phone that has sold for well below its MRP for months isn’t a festive-sale miracle when it shows up at that same price with a big “% off” tag.
- “Up To” Discounts
“Up to 70% off laptops” usually means one or two models get 70% off and the rest get very little. The headline number is there to get you into the sale page.
- Last Year’s Model, Dressed as a Deal
Retailers use sales to clear older stock. There’s nothing wrong with buying last year’s model at a good price, and it’s often the smart move. The problem is when the listing doesn’t make it obvious. Check the model number and release year, especially for TVs, laptops and earbuds, where names barely change between generations.
- Special “Sale” Versions
Some TVs and laptops sold during big sales carry model numbers that differ slightly from the version reviewers tested, sometimes with a weaker processor, less storage or fewer ports. The only way to catch this is to compare the full model number and spec sheet with the version you’ve read about.
- Fake Urgency
Countdown timers, “only 2 left” and “37 people are viewing this” messages are designed to stop you comparing prices. Some are real. Many aren’t. If a timer resets when you reload the page, you have your answer.
- The Price That Grows at Checkout
A great headline price can grow at checkout once shipping, “handling” or platform fees are added. In India, also watch the bank offer. A price that only applies with one bank’s credit card, is capped at a fixed amount, or only works on EMI isn’t the price most people will actually pay.
How to Check Any Deal in Two Minutes
Before you buy anything expensive, run through these steps.
Check the Price History
This is the single most useful thing you can do. A price tracker shows what the product has actually sold for over the past months, so you can see whether today’s price is really a low.
- Amazon in the US, UK, Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia: CamelCamelCamel and Keepa both show full price history.
- Amazon India: Keepa supports Amazon.in, but CamelCamelCamel does not.
- Flipkart and other Indian stores: Price History and BuyHatke cover Flipkart, Amazon.in and several other Indian retailers.
- Anywhere Google Shopping works: search the product and look for the price insights panel, which shows whether the current price is high, low or typical compared with the past three months.
If today’s “deal” matches a price the product has hit several times before, it’s a normal price with a sale badge. If it’s clearly below anything in the history, that’s a real deal.
Compare the Exact Model at Two or Three Stores
Search the full model number, not just the product name. That catches both the special sale versions and cases where another store is simply cheaper without any fanfare.
Go to the Final Checkout Screen
Add the item to your cart and go all the way to the last step before payment. That’s the only price that counts. Compare that number, not the headline.
Check Who’s Actually Selling It
On Amazon and Flipkart, look for the seller name under the price. A deal from an unknown third-party seller on an expensive gadget carries more risk: grey imports without a local warranty, refurbished units that aren’t clearly labelled, or outright counterfeits. In India, check that the product comes with an official brand warranty, not just a seller warranty.
Read the Return Policy
Some sale items have shorter or no return windows. Know that before you buy, not after the box arrives.
What the Law Says About Fake Discounts
The rules are catching up, and they give you something to point to if a deal turns out to be misleading.
In the EU, when a shop announces a price cut, the “before” price it compares against must be the lowest price it charged in the previous 30 days. A retailer can’t raise the price for a week and then “discount” it back down.
In the UK, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act lets the Competition and Markets Authority fine companies up to 10% of global turnover for misleading pricing, without going through the courts first. Its first fine under the new powers, in April 2026, was £4.2 million over hidden fees added during checkout.
In the US, the FTC’s rule on fake reviews has been in force since late 2024. It bans fake and AI-generated reviews and lets the regulator seek civil penalties, which matters when a product’s five-star rating is doing half the selling.
In India, the Central Consumer Protection Authority’s 2023 guidelines ban dark patterns including false urgency, drip pricing and basket sneaking, where extra items are added to your cart without asking. In 2025, the CCPA told e-commerce platforms to audit themselves for these practices. If you run into one, you can complain to the National Consumer Helpline on 1915.
Watch Out for Deal Scams, Too
Big sales bring fake deals of a different kind. Texts, WhatsApp forwards and social media ads promising “iPhone at ₹9,999” or “Black Friday clearance, 90% off” usually lead to lookalike websites that take your payment and ship nothing, or steal your card details.
If a deal seems impossible, it is. Only click deal links from the retailer’s own app or website, and type the address yourself rather than following a forwarded link.
Quick Answers
When is Black Friday 2026?
Black Friday is on Friday, November 27, 2026, and Cyber Monday is on November 30. Many retailers start their deals weeks earlier, and Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days run on October 6 and 7.
Are Black Friday deals really cheaper?
Often not. A Which? study found 83% of Black Friday deals it tracked were the same price or cheaper at another point in the year. Check the price history before you buy.
How can I check if a discount is real?
Use a price tracker to see what the product actually sold for in recent months. Keepa and CamelCamelCamel cover Amazon. For Flipkart and Amazon India, try Price History or BuyHatke. Google Shopping also shows whether a price is high, low or typical.
Is MRP the real price in India?
No. MRP is the maximum price a seller is allowed to charge. Many products sell well below MRP all year, so a big discount off the MRP doesn’t mean the price is unusually low.
Should I buy a laptop on Black Friday this year?
If you need one, a verified low price is worth grabbing, because rising memory costs are pushing laptop prices up. Check the price history first, since some “discounts” are just prices returning to earlier levels.
What should I do if a sale price was fake?
In India, complain to the National Consumer Helpline on 1915. In the UK, report it to Citizens Advice, which passes cases to Trading Standards. In the US, report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Bottom Line
The discount percentage is the least useful number on a Black Friday deal. The price history, the exact model number and the final checkout price tell you far more. Decide what you actually need before the sales start, set price alerts, and buy when the tracker shows a real low, whether that’s on Black Friday, during a festive sale or on an ordinary Tuesday in March.
