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How to spot a fake shoe discount

Nesim Yılmaz · 09.11.2026

A big red "-50%" tells you very little. What matters is the price the discount is calculated from. Some retailers inflate the "was" price, or compare against an RRP the shoe never actually sold at.

What the rules say

UK guidance from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute says a "was" price should be one the item was genuinely sold at for a reasonable period, and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 lets the CMA fine retailers directly for misleading pricing. In practice there are still grey areas:

Five quick checks

  1. Read the reference price. Is it a real previous price or just "RRP"?
  2. Compare other retailers. If the shoe costs the same elsewhere at full price, the discount is meaningless.
  3. Check your size. A deal only in UK 3 and UK 13 is a clearance line, not a deal for you.
  4. Ignore countdown timers. "Ends in 2 hours" is usually just pressure.
  5. Add delivery and returns. £4.99 delivery plus paid returns can wipe out a 10% saving.

A worked example

A pair of walking boots is advertised as "was £160, now £96 (40% off)". Three questions make it clear:

  1. What has it cost over the last 30 days? If it has been selling at £100–£105, the real discount is only about 5–10%.
  2. What does it cost elsewhere? If another retailer sells the same model code for £99, the "sale" price is simply the market price.
  3. What's the total cost? £4.99 delivery and paid returns change the maths, especially with shoes where the size doesn't always fit.

Common tricks

Black Friday and the January sales

Late November and the January sales bring real bargains – and most of the inflated discounts. Note the price of the shoes you want two or three weeks before, or check the price history on FairSole. If the sale price is clearly below that, it's a genuine deal.

What to do about misleading prices

If you think a retailer's price claims are misleading, you can report it to Citizens Advice, who pass reports to Trading Standards. Keep dated screenshots showing the price and the "was" price.

Our labels explained

The order is set by these labels and the discount we measure – commission plays no part.

How FairSole checks

We store every product's price every day and measure the discount against its 30-day average. If the retailer's advertised discount is much bigger than the one we measure, the deal is labelled "Inflated discount" and moves down the list.

Retailer showsWe measureVerdict
-50%-45%Real discount
-50%-10%Inflated discount
no discount20% cheaper than other shopsCheapest shop

Frequently asked questions

What should a "was" price show in the UK?

UK guidance says a "was" price should be one the product was genuinely sold at for a reasonable period, and the comparison shouldn't mislead. Since the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, the CMA can fine retailers directly for misleading pricing.

Is a comparison with the RRP a fake discount?

Not automatically, but it often tells you little. Many shoes rarely sell at full RRP. What matters is what the shoe has actually cost in recent weeks.

What's the quickest way to check if a discount is real?

Copy the model code and search for it at two or three other retailers. On FairSole you can also see the last 30 days of price history.

What does the "Inflated discount" label mean?

The discount the retailer advertises is much bigger than the one we measure against the product's own 30-day average. We rank these deals lower.

When are shoes genuinely cheapest?

At the end of each season: winter boots in the January sales, sandals in July and August. Previous models also drop sharply when a new version comes out.

Buying guides