It’s common practice for retailers to mark prices up or down depending on factors such as demand, seasonal change, and many others. However, what many people may not realize is that the price of a single item can vary from store to store, sometimes quite drastically, even within a single neighborhood. What this means is that with the right tools, shoppers could have a unique opportunity to save big on all kinds of purchases.
As usual though, there is a catch. Markdowns such as these are hard to predict, often springing up out of nowhere and only lasting for a short period of time before disappearing completely. This lack of predictability makes this method of saving money inaccessible to many, but wouldn’t it be great to know the exact price of an item across all nearby stores? What if you had access to a list of items that have been seen marked down in more than one area, so you would know exactly what to look for? With tools such as these, local deal hunting would begin to look a lot more feasible.
These are just a few of the questions that we at BrickSeek have sought to answer, and we began with what seemed like a simple concept. Using Inventory Checkers that allowed anyone to check pricing around them, we were able to gain a better understanding of how items are changing in price around the country.
It wasn’t a perfect system — the lack of predictability sometimes made it challenging for us to provide consistent results. Some of you reading this may be familiar with how things have been up until now. The “as low as” prices displayed for in-store deals indicated the lowest price seen for that deal at what was typically only a small handful of stores scattered throughout the country.
We were successful in providing a list of items that were actively being marked down but had difficulty with adding further insight into how prolific those deals were at different price points. This has been an ongoing challenge for us and something that we will constantly be working towards perfecting.
Today we are happy to announce an update that we feel brings us one step closer to that vision. Replacing the “as low as” price described above will be a more inclusive one. Although it is possible that some users will find a deal for an even lower price than what is indicated on our Deals page, with this update, you will have more clarity than ever around just how widespread an in-store deal really is.
We accomplished this by reporting a commonly seen price and by including the percentage of stores at which we have seen that price with the item in stock. Although at first glance this may appear to be a relatively modest improvement, we feel that it represents a pretty major shift in the way our Deals page works. As with all of our updates, we hope that it leads to more people saving more money more easily than ever.
I like it!!
Glad to hear it!
Awesome! Loving the new blog feature here as well (but maybe because I’m a blogger myself 😉 ) Thanks for all you guys do to continue improving and making this such an amazing tool and site! You’re the best!
Glad you’re liking everything! And thank you for your kind words about our blog, this is only the beginning and we’re all excited to see what can come of it. Most of us use the site daily so improving it is seriously our pleasure, and we have you guys to thank for making it all possible!
I liked it the first moment I saw it. The lowest price ever since was deceptive, and let a lot of people down. Showing how widespread the deal is will help users evaluate if they should even click on the product to check their stores. Good change!
Very glad to hear that! We had to start somewhere and I’m just thrilled to hear that we’re moving in the right direction. Thanks for writing in and I hope to see your feedback on future posts as well.
What’s up with the Lowe’s “Today’s Markdowns”? Since the update, mine is only showing 103 instead of 150 and several items repeat, some as many as 4 times.
Hey thanks for writing in. This update should not have had an effect on the number of results for a stores “Today’s Markdowns” page, the repeating of products is definitely not expected behavior. I have looked into it and am unable to replicate but if this continues please send an email to [email protected] and we’ll work with you to get it fixed.
I am having the same problem with automotive
Schumacher 800-Amp Li-Ion Jump Starter with USB Ports $69.97 9% of stores $69.97 MSRP. How is this supposed to help people look for deals? Looked at the item and there were some for $35.00. I don’t like the new format at all as it doesn’t show a low price. Now how is somebody supposed to know if it is even worth looking at anything without clicking on everything? Totally disagree with posters above and I believe a majority would agree with me but they never post on here to disagree. Considering dumping brickseek as the hassle of clicking through everything is too much.
Hey thanks for writing in and pointing that deal out. We’ve been working on this change for quite some time but some products may still take additional time to switch over completely. The entire motivation behind this was exactly to give users a better idea of whether or not they should look into each deal. As mentioned in the article, it is now, as it actually always was, possible to check a deals inventory and see it near you for a lower price than what is listed. With that in mind a deal that is marked down at a higher percentage of stores will almost always be a safer bet for checking inventory because of the increased chances of it being discounted significantly near you. We absolutely welcome your feedback and if you have any concerns please write to us at [email protected].
I love it, helps me decide if those closest to me really have it or limited stock really is no stock.
Thank you
You’re very welcome and we’re all glad to hear that this change has helped you!
Hi in which store is the SAMSUNG 58″ Class 4K (2160P) Ultra HD Smart LED HDR TV UN58MU6070 for $175
Hey there! That TV doesn’t appear to be available in too many places for that price anymore, but you can always check near you using our Walmart Inventory Checker. I went ahead and included that exact TV’s SKU in the URL so all you need to do is click that link and enter your zip code. Happy deal seeking!
I’d like to see both prices – the lowest price – and the lowest price “near me”. Since I sometimes use a VPN the closest price to me is sometimes in another state… I’m willing to look at the listing to see if it is available nearby.
Hey thanks for writing in. I hope I’m understanding you correctly but our deals page has never included prices that are specifically local to the person viewing it, instead the prices listed try to indicate what that particular product is being marked down to in stores throughout the country, which may or may not include your local ones. As you might have mentioned already for real-time item pricing and availability, you can use one of our inventory checkers. If you’re a premium member then you can view the pricing records for any particular item to see the lowest that it has ever been priced.
The graphics show the Venezuelan bills why?
Not for any particular reason, this just so happened to be what I thought was the most relevant stock photo I could find for this update announcement 🙂
If you can find a coupon on that sale can you use a coupon?
In most cases, yes! Some store coupons will exclude clearance items, but you could definitely stack a manufacturer’s coupon with a sale to maximize your savings.