Thrifle Research
Original data on how U.S. retail really works
We dig into the parts of shopping that nobody publishes clearly — return policies, pricing, and discounts — and turn what we find into editor-verified reports. Free to read, cite, and embed.
Latest report · Price Data
The Prime Day Verdict: Every Real Discount We Could Find, Scored
Part two of our Prime Day research: 121,415 products, every real discount scored against its own price history. The Sham Scale, the $4.36 median true saving, the deals Amazon and the press promoted — and a quiz to test your own eye.
All reports
3 moreData report
Are Amazon Prime Day Deals Actually Real?
We tracked the real price history of 121,415 Amazon products through Prime Day 2026. Only 20.6% were a genuine discount — and about 1 in 9 cost more during the event than the week before.
121,415 products · only 20.6% genuinely cheaper · 11.5% cost MORE
Data report
Which Brands Actually Go On Sale?
We measured the discount behavior of 592 brands across ~90,000 Amazon products. Some brands (Apple, Garmin, YETI) almost never drop their price; others are always on sale.
~90,000 products · 592 brands · ~46% almost never discount
Data report
The 2026 State of U.S. Return Policies
We verified the return policies of 200 operating U.S. retailers — windows, restocking fees, return shipping, holiday extensions — and graded every one from A+ to D−.
200 retailers · 54% give exactly 30 days · only 7 still offer lifetime returns
In progress
What we’re working on next
- The real “original price” — how often a retailer’s crossed-out price is the price it actually charged
- Best month to buy, by category — twelve months of tracked price history
- The holiday price-history truth report — what discounts really do in Q4
New reports land here as we finish them. Writing about retail and want early access to the data? Get in touch.
Free to cite. Reports may be quoted with attribution to Thrifle. https://thrifle.com/reports