Deal check · the method, not a price feed
Five checks before you believe a discount.
We do not track prices and we do not send price alerts, because the Amazon Associates programme does not allow a participating site to do either. What we can hand you is the method we use ourselves, which works on any retailer and takes about a minute.
Read this first
We removed our 90-day price charts. They were the most useful thing on the site, and they were also price tracking, which section 6(y) of the Amazon Associates Participation Requirements prohibits on a site that carries Amazon links. We would rather have an account and no chart than a chart and no account.
- 01
Find the real list price, not the crossed-out one
A struck-through "was" price is set by the seller, and on marketplace listings it is often a number the product never sold at. Go to the manufacturer's own store and look at what it charges. If the maker sells it for the same figure as the "sale" price, the discount is a decoration.
- 02
Ask whether the model is being replaced
This is the single most reliable signal in the toy category. Robot toys run on annual refresh cycles, and the clearest discounts land on the outgoing generation in the weeks around a new announcement. A big discount on a two-year-old model is not generosity, it is clearance, and it usually goes lower.
- 03
Add up what it costs after the box is open
A toy with a $9.99 monthly plan costs $120 a year on top of the hardware. A 30% saving on a $200 robot is erased in about seven months of subscription. Multiply the monthly fee by 24 before you compare anything.
- 04
Check who is actually selling it
Amazon itself, or a marketplace seller with its own returns policy and its own shipping time. On a gift with a deadline, a $4 saving from an unfamiliar seller is a bad trade. Look at the sold-by line, not the price.
- 05
Ignore the countdown, watch the price
"Ends in 4 hours" is a property of the banner, not of the price. Lightning deals do expire, and the same product is frequently back at the same figure within a week. If you would not buy it at this price without the timer, do not buy it with the timer.
Questions about the missing price history
Why is there no price history on this site?
Because the Amazon Associates programme does not allow it. The Associates Program Participation Requirements, section 6(y), say that unless Amazon agrees otherwise, a participating site must not have price tracking or price alerting functionality. We used to publish a 90-day price chart on every product page. We removed that layer and rebuilt around the review instead.
Then how do I know if today is a good time to buy?
You do it yourself in about a minute, using the five checks on this page. The one number this site will give you is the price Amazon is showing right now, with the moment we read it, and we link straight to the listing so you can confirm it. That is the number that decides the purchase; everything else is anchoring.
Do you still label a product as a real deal or a fake one?
No. We do not have the data to say that, and pretending otherwise would be the exact thing this site exists to criticise. We will tell you what a toy costs over two years, what it records about your home, and whether the maker looks likely to still support it. Those are judgements we can stand behind.
Does the price you show include coupons or member pricing?
It is the price the Creators API reports for the listing, which is the standard price. Clip-on coupons, Prime-only pricing and lightning deals can differ. Confirm on the listing before you buy, which is what the "Check price on Amazon" link is for.
How current is the price on a product page?
Every price carries its own timestamp, in the format "Amazon.com Price: $199.99 (as of 09/19/2026 03:47 UTC)". If our last reading is more than 24 hours old we do not publish a number at all, because Amazon does not permit caching that data beyond that window. A missing price means the pipeline is behind, and it will come back when it catches up.
The radar
One email when we publish a new review.
New write-ups, the products we just rejected, and the subscription traps we found. No roundups, no affiliate spam, unsubscribe in one click. We do not send price alerts, and we never will: the Amazon Associates programme does not permit them on a participating site.