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Can I buy it?हिंदी में पढ़ें

Festive sale: how to check the real price before you pay

5 min readFacts valid until 2026-12-31
Young couple on a sofa comparing prices on a laptop and a phone

Short answer: Ignore the “% off MRP” banner. Find the lowest price you saw in the last month and read the card offer’s conditions. Then count what the way you pay costs: EMI (monthly instalment) fees, GST on card interest and any lost discount. Cashback that comes later doesn’t lower today’s bill. Last, check the final checkout total for added items and fees, and make sure the payment fits this month’s budget.

The situation

The sale opens at midnight. Pooja and Arjun want a new phone for her mother. The page says “MRP ₹34,999, now ₹24,999, 29% off”. Below it are three more lines: an instant card discount, “no-cost EMI from ₹2,778 a month” and “cashback up to ₹1,000”. The timer says the deal ends in two hours.

Which of these numbers is the real price?

Step 1: compare with last month, not with MRP

MRP (maximum retail price) is the highest price, including all taxes, at which a packaged item may be sold. It is a ceiling (an upper limit). Many products sell below it all year, so “% off MRP” tells you little about the sale.

A better test is the lowest price in the past 30 days. Pooja had seen this phone at ₹25,999 a few weeks earlier. So the sale saves her ₹1,000, about 4%, not ₹10,000.

From 1 January 2027, changed e-commerce rules say that when a site announces a price cut, it must show the reduced price and the “prior price”. The prior price means the lowest price in the 30 days before the announcement. Until then, keep your own record: a screenshot or a wishlist note with the date.

Step 2: read the card offer’s conditions

An instant card discount usually has small print. Look for:

  • which cards it covers (credit or debit, and which ones)
  • a minimum order value and a maximum discount
  • whether it works on EMI or only on full payment
  • how many times you can use it in the sale.

In our example the card offer is ₹1,500 off on full payment, for orders above ₹20,000. With it, the phone costs ₹23,499.

Step 3: count the cost of how you pay

“No-cost EMI” on a card is a loan. The interest is covered by a discount, but 18% GST (the tax on goods and services) on that interest and a processing fee are still yours. Often the card discount for full payment is lost too. Our guide No-cost EMI: is it really free? explains how it works.

Fictional example: card EMI at 16% a year for 9 months, processing fee ₹199 + GST, card discount not available on EMI. Calculated by Paisavy.

Pay in full with the card offer “No-cost” EMI on a card
Price ₹24,999 ₹24,999 (9 × ₹2,778)
Card discount − ₹1,500 not available
Interest hidden inside (covered by the discount) — ₹1,588
GST on that interest (18%) — + ₹286
Processing fee with GST — + ₹235
You pay ₹23,499 ₹25,520

The EMI route costs ₹2,021 more than paying in full with the offer.

“Pay Later” at checkout is also a loan, from a bank or an NBFC (a finance company that is not a bank). It goes on your credit report, and a missed due date counts. See “Pay Later” and BNPL.

Step 4: treat cashback and exchange as “maybe later”

Cashback is paid after the purchase, often weeks later, and only if you meet the conditions. Say Pooja takes the ₹1,000 cashback offer instead of the instant discount. She still pays ₹24,999 today. If the cashback arrives, the phone has cost her ₹23,999. Until then, budget for ₹24,999.

An exchange offer gives you a value for your old phone. Before you accept, ask what someone else would pay you for it. Ask also what happens if the condition check at pickup gives a lower value than the one you were shown.

Step 5: check the final total on the payment page

Read the last screen slowly. Look for delivery or “convenience” fees, a protection plan or a donation that is already ticked, and items you didn’t add.

Dark patterns are tricks in a website’s or app’s design that push you to buy. India’s Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 list 13 of them as unfair trade practices, which the law treats as unfair to buyers. They include false urgency (a fake “only 2 left” or countdown), drip pricing (costs that appear only at the end) and basket sneaking (extra items put in your cart without clearly asking you). If you see one, untick it, take a screenshot and complain. The National Consumer Helpline is 1915 (8 am to 8 pm), or WhatsApp 8800001915.

Before you buy, check the return window, who pays for return shipping and how the refund is paid.

Step 6: make sure it fits this month

Festive months bring gifts and travel. After rent, food, bills and savings, Pooja has about ₹4,000 a month free. An EMI of ₹2,778 would take about 69% of that, leaving ₹1,222 for everything else in the festive month.

If the item wasn’t on your list before the sale, wait 24 hours. If you still want it then, run the numbers. If your current EMIs already feel tight, skip new credit this season and see Hard to pay?

What to check today

  1. Write down the price you saw before the sale, with the date.
  2. Open the card offer’s terms and note the minimum order, the maximum discount and whether EMI is excluded.
  3. Put the EMI, fee and pay-now price into the no-cost EMI tool.
  4. Check the payment page for ticked add-ons and new fees.
  5. Test the monthly payment with Can I afford this purchase? or compare buying, saving up and a cheaper model in Buy now, save first, or choose cheaper?

Try it with your own numbers

→ No-cost EMI: the real cost. Enter the price, months, the card’s rate, the fee and the best pay-now price.

Sources and review

Try it with your numbers
No-cost EMI: real cost
Open tool →

Educational information, not financial advice. Found an error? Tell us → · Corrections log

Frequently asked questions

Is the discount from MRP the real saving in a sale?

Usually not. MRP is the highest price, including all taxes, at which a packaged item may be sold, and many products sell below it all year. Compare with the lowest price you saw in the last 30 days. In our example, a phone shown as ₹10,000 off MRP was only ₹1,000 (about 4%) cheaper than a few weeks earlier.

Do online sites have to show the earlier price during a sale?

From 1 January 2027, yes. Changed e-commerce rules say that when a site announces a price cut, it must show the reduced price and the prior price. The prior price is the lowest price in the 30 days before the announcement. Until then, keep your own record, such as a dated screenshot.

Is no-cost EMI cheaper than paying with a card discount?

Often not. On a card, you pay 18% GST on the hidden interest and a processing fee, and the full-payment discount may be lost. In our fictional example, a ₹24,999 phone cost ₹23,499 paid in full with a ₹1,500 card offer, but ₹25,520 on a 9-month card EMI: ₹2,021 more.

Does cashback reduce the price I pay?

Not today. Cashback comes after the purchase, often weeks later, and only if you meet the conditions. If you pay ₹24,999 and expect ₹1,000 cashback, budget for ₹24,999. The phone costs ₹23,999 only once the cashback actually arrives. Note the date it should come by and keep the order email.

What should I check on the payment page before I pay?

Look for delivery or convenience fees, a protection plan or donation that is already ticked, and items you didn't add. Adding items without clearly asking you (basket sneaking) and showing costs only at the end (drip pricing) are listed dark patterns. Untick them, take a screenshot and call the National Consumer Helpline on 1915.