A markdown is only as honest as its reference price — if a retailer raises the "original" price shortly before a sale, the advertised discount can look bigger than the real price drop. The way to check is to compare the sale price against an item's actual recent price history, not the retailer's own stated "was" price.
Why This Question Comes Up Most Around Black Friday
Search interest in "how to spot a fake markdown" and similar phrasing spikes around Black Friday specifically, because that's when the volume of discount claims is highest and the stakes of being misled feel bigger. The underlying issue — an inflated reference price — isn't limited to Black Friday, but it's when people are most likely to be comparing multiple claimed discounts at once.
How to Actually Check
- Don't rely on the "was" price shown at checkout. It's the retailer's own claim, not an independently verified number.
- Look at the item's price over the weeks before the sale, if you have access to that history. A price that was raised a week before a "60% off" sale started tells a different story than one that's been stable for months.
- Track the item yourself before a sale event, not during one. Closetta's price tracker records a specific product's price from whenever you start watching it, so if you set an alert on an item in October, you'll have your own record of its actual price heading into November — independent of whatever the retailer claims at checkout.
What This Doesn't Solve
A price tracker only has data from when you started tracking — it can't retroactively prove what a price was six months ago if you weren't watching it then. The practical takeaway is to start tracking items you're interested in before a major sale event, not the week of it, if verifying the markdown matters to you.
Related Reading
For the Black Friday date itself and what discount depth to expect this year, see Black Friday 2026: The Exact Date.
FAQ
What is a fake markdown?
A fake markdown is when a retailer inflates the "original" price shortly before a sale, so the advertised discount looks bigger than the actual price drop from what the item was recently selling for.
How can I tell if a discount is a fake markdown?
Check the item's actual price history rather than trusting the retailer's stated 'was' price. If the price was raised shortly before the sale started, the advertised percentage off is misleading even if the math is technically correct.
Does a price tracker show price history?
A price tracker like Closetta's /tracker records the price of a specific item from the point you start tracking it forward, which lets you see whether a later 'sale' price is actually lower than what you observed before, rather than relying on the retailer's own claimed discount.
Is this more common around Black Friday?
The concern comes up most around big sale events like Black Friday specifically because of the volume of markdown claims — the underlying issue (an inflated reference price) can happen around any sale event, not just Black Friday.
This post describes general retail pricing practices and how Closetta's price-tracking feature works. It does not allege that any specific brand tracked by Closetta engages in inflated reference pricing.