How to read a price history before you buy tech in Australia

A price history chart answers one question a "was" price can't: what has this retailer actually charged for this product lately? Once you know how to read one, most "sales" become easy to judge. This guide covers where to find price histories in Australia, what to look at on the chart, and the traps that catch people out. It uses the same method DealCheck AU uses behind its verdicts.

Why the "was" price isn't enough

A crossed-out price tells you what the retailer wants you to compare against, not what you would have paid last week. The ACCC says a displayed price can be misleading if it claims a markdown from an earlier price when the item was not sold at that price for a reasonable period right before the sale, or if it compares against a recommended retail price (RRP) the product was never sold at. It also says that if an item is on a "sale" price for an extended time, calling it a sale may be misleading, because that price has effectively become the new selling price.

You can't see any of that from the ticket. You can see it on a price history.

Where to find price histories

Several Australian-focused trackers show past prices. CHOICE compared a group of them in 2025. Some points from that article worth knowing:

• Trackers show a product's current price at a retailer and its previous prices there. Many also show other retailers.
• They differ in how many retailers they cover. CHOICE listed Zyft at over 50,000 sellers, BuyWisely at over 20,000 and Price Hipster at 250, while CamelCamelCamel and Honey only monitor Amazon.
• Trackers can be slow. When a retailer changed a price, CHOICE found some trackers kept showing the old price for a day or two, and none of them cover every seller, so they can miss offers from retailers they don't monitor.

DealCheck AU uses StaticICE listings and PriceHipster price-change history, plus its own daily records. No single source is complete, so for a big purchase it's worth opening two.

What to look at on the chart

1. The retailer's own line, not the cheapest line. A fair comparison is a retailer against itself. Today's price at Store A should be judged against Store A's last few months, not against the lowest price any store has charged. DealCheck AU always compares like with like for this reason.

2. The last 30 and 90 days. Ask what the typical price has been recently. We use the median, which is the middle price over the period, because a short spike or a brief clearance dip won't distort it the way it can distort an average. Two windows catch different tricks: a 30-day look shows whether a "new low" is really the usual price, and a 90-day look shows whether the price was nudged up before the sale to make the discount look bigger.

3. The lowest price on record. A genuine deal is usually at or very near the lowest the retailer has charged. If the lowest price on record is well below today's price, the retailer has been cheaper before and may be again.

4. How long the history is. Three weeks of data can't tell you what a "normal" price is. A new product might have only a few weeks of history. In that case a chart can only tell you "lowest we've seen so far", which is weaker than "lowest in a year". Always check the date range on the chart.

5. The shape. A flat line with a sudden drop, then back up, is a short sale. A line that steps down and stays down means the price has changed, not that there's a deal. A saw-tooth pattern means this retailer discounts often, so waiting may get you the same price.

A worked example

DealCheck AU's post on the LG UltraFine 27UP850K-W monitor shows the idea. At PLE Computers the price on the day we checked was $399. PLE's own 30-day median was $479 and its 90-day median was $499, so the price was 17% below one and 20% below the other. It also matched the lowest price on record at PLE, and we held 407 days of history for that retailer. All four checks pointed the same way.

Traps to watch for

• Different variants under one name. Colours, storage sizes and model numbers can have separate price histories. Make sure the listing and the chart are the same model.
• Bundles and extras. A bundle can hide a normal price on the main item. Compare the main item alone.
• Total price. The ACCC says businesses must display a total price that includes taxes, duties and unavoidable or pre-selected extra fees. The ACCC also notes that from 1 October 2026, businesses can no longer surcharge payments made on Visa, Mastercard, American Express or eftpos cards. Delivery can still be a separate cost, so add it up.
• Stale data. Because trackers can lag, check the price on the retailer's page before you buy. DealCheck AU does this: if the retailer's page price is more than 2% away from the tracker price, we use the page price and re-run the checks.
• Refurbished, open-box and ex-demo. These shouldn't be compared with new stock. We exclude them.

A quick routine before you buy

1. Pick the exact model number.
2. Open a price history for it and check the date range.
3. Note the retailer's 30-day and 90-day typical price and its lowest on record.
4. Check two or three other Australian retailers today.
5. Check the price on the retailer's own page, including delivery.
6. If it isn't clearly better than the recent typical price, wait. Another sale will come: see when tech actually goes on sale in Australia.

For how DealCheck AU turns this into a verdict, see How we check deals, and for what our badges mean, Real deal vs good price. If Black Friday is the reason you're reading this, our Black Friday guide covers the tricks in more detail.

Price history only covers the periods trackers were watching. It shows what prices have been, not what they will be, and it can't tell you whether a product is any good. DealCheck AU may earn a commission if you buy through links on this site. That never changes a verdict. See our affiliate disclosure.