Festive sale tracker: Which discounts are genuine—and which are just hype?
Mint tracked pre-sale and sale prices on Amazon and Flipkart to reveal which festive discounts are genuine, which are exaggerated, and how shoppers can get the best bargains this season.
Every year, Amazon’s Great Indian Festival and Flipkart’s Big Billion Days advertise steep discounts on everything from smartphones and laptops to home appliances and clothes. Are these blockbuster deals real bargains, or just clever marketing?
Mint tracked prices on both platforms to find out. A pre-sale tracker monitored popular products ten days before the discounts, recording prices first on 13 September and again on 23 September, when the sales began. The comparison between pre-sale and deal prices offers a clearer picture of actual savings.
We shortlisted best-selling gadgets and kitchen appliances electronics on both the platforms. These include iPhones, laptops, televisions, wireless earphones and fridge.
Genuine deals vs marketing hype
Smartphones, particularly iPhones, headline the festive sales every year. With the iPhone 17 recently launched, the iPhone 16 and 15 models were expected to feature heavily in deals.
On Amazon, iPhone 16 prices showed little change, while Flipkart offered discounts of nearly ₹15,000 on the same models. Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra, in the same premium range, saw price drops of up to ₹25,000 on both platforms. However, the 512GB variant sold out during the pre-sale period for Prime and First members, highlighting the popularity of certain high-demand models.
Mid-range Samsung phones, like the Galaxy A35 5G and S24, were available at similarly deep discounts.
Home appliances, including refrigerators, washing machines, and televisions, also feature prominently. Here, results were uneven. Certain models saw notable price reductions, making them attractive during the sale. Others showed only marginal differences, and a few were even slightly higher than their pre-sale prices, raising questions about the credibility of advertised discounts.
Wireless headphones, another popular category, displayed modest price movements. Some models were just a few hundred rupees cheaper than their mid-September prices, despite claims of “up to 50% off".
The MRP illusion
One common tactic is inflating the maximum retail price (MRP) to make discounts appear larger.
For instance, Amazon lists the iPhone 16 (128GB) at an MRP of ₹79,900, while Apple’s official price is ₹69,900. During the sale, Amazon offered it at ₹69,499—a 13% discount on the inflated MRP, but an actual saving of just ₹500. Similar discrepancies were observed across other categories, exaggerating the scale of discounts.
What this means for shoppers
While Mint’s tracker confirms that customers can buy products at discounted prices, the extent of savings can be misleading. Some genuine bargains exist—especially on high-demand gadgets and select appliances—but many offers exaggerate discounts through inflated MRPs. Buyers should focus on products they truly need and not be swayed solely by the allure of a “sale."
Additional savings may be available via bank offers and bonus coupons, but the underlying principle remains: festive sales can deliver deals, but savvy shopping is essential.
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