Spent the last few months digging into EU retailer pricing patterns for a project on seasonal buying, and one pattern shows up constantly: the fake anchor price.

Here's how it works. A retailer lists a TV at €899 for two weeks in November, sells almost none at that price, then "discounts" it to €599 for Black Friday. Looks like 33% off. In reality, €599 was close to the price it sat at all October — the €899 tag existed only to get discounted from.

Three things that actually separate a real deal from a manufactured one:

1. Check the 90-day price history, not the "was" price. If the current price is close to the 90-day average, it's not a deal — it's the normal price with a costume on.

2. Timing beats the discount %. A 10%-off TV in December still loses to full price in January most years — categories like electronics and gym gear get cheaper on a predictable seasonal cycle regardless of "sales."

3. Mattresses and appliances are the worst offenders. These categories have some of the widest gaps between list price and real transaction price — the sticker is almost decorative.

If you track this stuff yourself: pull a price history extension, watch a product for a full quarter before buying anything over ~€200, and treat every "was" price as a marketing claim until proven otherwise.

Happy to share the specific month-by-month pattern I found for a few categories (TVs, mattresses, laptops) if people want it — just ask below.