The Inflated-MRP Trap: Price-tracking Before You Trust a "70% Off" Banner

Published: 19 October 2026 Category: how-to-guides | cardbuzz

Every festive season produces the same illusion: a product "70% off" that was never sold at the reference price. The MRP on the banner is often a fiction — set high precisely so the discount looks deep. In the Dussehra-to-Diwali wave (20 Oct – 8 Nov 2026), when every banner screams urgency, the only defence is price history.

How the trick works

  • MRP inflation: the printed MRP is set far above the product's usual selling price. A mixer-grinder with a ₹8,999 MRP that has sold at ₹4,200 all year is not "55% off" at ₹3,999 — it is 5% off.
  • Pre-sale price bumps: some sellers raise prices in the weeks before the sale, then "discount" back to the normal price. The discount is real against last week's price and fictional against last month's.
  • Variant confusion: a slightly different model number (one letter different) is listed at the "discounted" price, making direct comparison hard. Always compare the exact model number.

The 5-minute verification routine

  1. Check 60–90 days of price history on a price-tracking tool for the exact model. The relevant question is not "what is the MRP" but "what did this cost in August".
  2. Compare two marketplaces plus the brand store. Genuine deals are usually matched across channels; a "deal" available on only one marketplace at a suspicious price deserves scepticism.
  3. Separate the offer layers. Sale discount, bank instant discount, exchange bonus — evaluate each against its own baseline. A genuine bank offer (like the confirmed Amazon GIF SBI 10% ending 20 Oct 11:59 PM) on an inflated base price is still a bad deal.
  4. Read the seller. Marketplace listings from third-party sellers carry more pricing games than brand-authorised or marketplace-fulfilled listings.

The genuine-deal checklist

A festive price is genuinely good when: it is at or below the 90-day lowest tracked price, the bank offer on top is confirmed live (not rumoured), and the seller is authorised. Two out of three is a maybe; one out of three is a banner, not a deal.

The patience arbitrage

Prices often dip again in the days after Diwali as sellers clear inventory — the post-festival clearance (mid-November) routinely undercuts the festive "lowest prices" on non-urgent categories like small appliances and fashion. If the purchase is not date-driven (unlike Dhanteras gold), waiting until the wave's end is a legitimate strategy. The best deal of the season is frequently the one after the season.

No specific product price is claimed here. Verify prices on tracking tools and official store pages; bank-offer status per the CardBuzz sweep (17 Oct 2026).