The simple version

A discount is a comparison. The crossed-out number is what the sale price is being compared with, and it is called a reference price.

Amazon most often shows one of two reference prices. Which one appears decides how big the savings look.

The numbers

• Prime Big Deal Days runs October 6 and 7, 2026 (Amazon, announced September 14, 2026)
• Amazon's List Price is the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), shown, except for books, only if customers bought the item on Amazon or other retailers offered it at or above that price in the past 90 days, or 180 days for seasonal products (Amazon Customer Service)
• Amazon's Typical Price is the 90-day median price paid by customers on Amazon, excluding prices paid during limited-time promotions (Amazon Customer Service)
• Lowest Price in XX Days means the current price is lower than, or equal to, the lowest featured offer price for that item on Amazon in that many days (Amazon Customer Service)
• Federal Trade Commission guidance treats a former price as a legitimate basis for a comparison when the item was actually offered at that price, on a regular basis, for a reasonably substantial period of time (16 CFR 233.1)

Two reference prices, two different questions

A List Price answers the question of what the maker suggests charging. Amazon itself notes that these values may not necessarily reflect the prevailing market price of a product.

A Typical Price answers what shoppers have actually been paying on Amazon lately, leaving out short promotions. It is usually the closer comparison to what you would pay on an ordinary day.

A third label, Lowest Price in a set number of days, makes no claim about a regular price at all. It says only that today's price is at or below the recent low.

The Real Cost lens on one $120 deal

Here is one sale price measured two ways, with prices we chose.

• The sale price is $120.
• Against a List Price of $200, the savings are $80, or 40%.
• Against a Typical Price of $150, the savings are $30, or 20%.
• Same item, same price, same day. The only thing that changed is the number it was compared with.

The useful check is the dollar gap between the sale price and what the item usually sells for. The percentage depends on the reference, and the reference is a choice.

What this means

Sale events put a percent off on nearly every item, and those percentages are not all measured the same way. Two items both labeled 30% off can be measured against different kinds of reference price.

Knowing which label is in use turns the percentage back into a plain comparison: this price against what people usually pay.

What this is NOT

This article explains how reference prices are defined and how a discount is calculated. It is not advice to buy, wait, or shop at any retailer, and it does not claim that any specific listing or discount is misleading. It takes no position on Amazon as a company or an investment. The $120, $150, and $200 prices are illustrations we chose. Definitions come from Amazon's own help page as read on October 1, 2026, and can change. Disclosure: Amazon is an investor in Anthropic, the company that makes AI tools used in producing ClearMoneySchool.

Sources

• Amazon Customer Service, Strike-Through Pricing and Savings: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GQ6B6RH72AX8D2TD
• Amazon, Prime Big Deal Days is Back October 6-7, September 14, 2026: https://press.aboutamazon.com/2026/9/prime-big-deal-days-is-back-october-6-7-kicking-off-the-season-with-two-days-of-exclusive-savings-for-prime-members
• Federal Trade Commission, Guides Against Deceptive Pricing, 16 CFR 233.1, Former price comparisons: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2026-title16-vol1/xml/CFR-2026-title16-vol1-sec233-1.xml