A flashing discount badge does a lot of psychological work, but it does not always mean you are saving money. Plenty of products are quietly marked up before a sale so the headline percentage looks dramatic. Here is how to shop with your eyes open.
The single most useful habit is checking price history. Free tools such as CamelCamelCamel and Keepa chart how a product's price has moved over months. If today's deal price is roughly the same as the average for the last quarter, the discount is mostly theatre. A genuine deal sits clearly below the recent trend.
Watch the reference price too. Amazon shows a struck-through was price, but that figure can be a manufacturer's recommended price almost nobody ever paid. Compare against what the item actually sold for last month, not against an inflated sticker.
Read the seller line carefully. Items that are dispatched and sold by Amazon, or by the official brand store, are safer than mystery third-party sellers riding on a popular listing. Check that reviews mention the current model and watch for a sudden flood of five-star reviews, which can signal incentivised or fake feedback.
Finally, separate want from need. A real bargain on something you were never going to buy is not a saving, it is a spend. Keep a short wishlist, set a target price for each item, and let the deal come to you. When the history confirms a genuine low, buy with confidence. The rest of the time, scroll on.