What percent discount is actually good? A category-by-category benchmark

“20% off” is a great deal on a fridge. It’s an everyday baseline on a sweater. “50% off” is unusual on a phone, expected on home decor, and suspicious on a luxury handbag. Discounts only mean something against a category baseline — and the baselines vary dramatically.

The category benchmarks

Why the baselines vary so much

The biggest factor is margin. Categories with high markups have room to discount aggressively:

• Fashion typically has 60-70% gross margins. A 50% discount still leaves the retailer profitable.
• Mattresseshave legendary margins — which is why every mattress store has a permanent 50% off sale that’s never actually 50% off the “real” price.
• Electronics have ~5-15% gross margins (consumer brands) or ~5% on big-box retail. A 20% discount means the retailer is selling at cost or below — these discounts only appear as loss leaders during holiday sales.
• Apple products have intentionally narrow discount channels. The first-party Apple Store rarely discounts more than ~5%; the deepest discounts come from Best Buy, Amazon, and Costco on last-gen models.

How to spot a fake discount

1. Check the price history.Browser extensions like CamelCamelCamel (Amazon), Keepa, or Honey show you the actual price over the last 90 days. A “50% off” sale that’s been running for 6 months is the normal price — the “original” is the fake.
2. Compare to MAP.If multiple retailers all show the same price and the “sale” is identical, you’re at MAP. That’s the floor; no further discount is coming.
3. Beware “everyday X% off.” The original price was set with that discount baked in. The discount isn’t a discount — it’s the baseline price.
4. Compare across retailers.If the same SKU costs $800 at Retailer A with “30% off” and $600 at Retailer B with no discount, Retailer B is your better deal.

When to wait for a deeper discount

Some discount patterns are seasonal and reliable:

• Last year’s electronics: 6-9 months after new model launch. Apple drops the previous iPhone by ~$100 when the new one ships.
• Fashion: 2-3 months after season change. Spring → late summer. Fall → late winter.
• Home goods: post-holiday clearance, late January.
• Mattresses: Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day (US). Beyond that, mattress discounts run year-round.
• SaaS annual plans: Black Friday, end-of-fiscal-quarter promos.

The math, regardless of category

Use our discount calculator for the actual sale price and savings. For stacked discounts (10% promo + 15% loyalty), remember the math is multiplicative, not additive — 10% + 15% stacked is 23.5% effective, not 25%. See our finance methodology for the formula.