Does Woolworths have genuine sales, or is the discount off an inflated price?

It varies by item, and the gap can be wide. Across the 97 Woolworths deals we have tracked long enough to judge, the typical badge is 50% off, but measured against the price the item actually holds, the median real saving is R175 (50%). The rest of that percentage is calculated off a was-price we have not seen the item reach. We show both numbers on every deal so the badge does not do the deciding.

What is the biggest genuine Woolworths price drop SaleDrop has recorded?

Right now the deepest genuine Woolworths saving we are showing is 52% below the usual price: Racerback Sleep Vest, now R96 against the R199 it usually sells at. That is measured off the price the item genuinely held, not the advertised was-price.

How many Woolworths deals is SaleDrop tracking right now?

We are tracking 103 Woolworths deals at 50% or more off, priced from R40 to R840, up to 52% off. Of those, 97 have enough recorded history for us to judge the saving, and 81 are at the lowest price we have on record.

How do I know if a Woolworths deal is actually a good price?

Ignore the percentage badge and look at two figures we record: the lowest price we have ever seen the item at, and the price it usually holds. If the current price is at or near that recorded low and clearly below the usual price, the saving is real. Our method is on the how-we-verify page.

Woolworths sale, checked

Woolworths sells a rotating selection of discounted stock. Here is how its sales behave while we watch the prices, and every live deal it is running at 50% or more off.

103 deals live97 with judgeable history81 at a recorded lowbadge says 50%, typical real saving 50%

How Woolworths sales really work

Woolworths is one of the South African retailers we track for genuine markdowns. Like most stores it discounts often, so a sale badge by itself is not much of a signal. What tells you whether a price is actually good is how it compares to what the item has cost before.

That is the gap we fill. For every Woolworths deal we keep the lowest and the usual price we have recorded, and we flag any advertised was-price that sits above anything we have genuinely seen, so the headline percentage does not get to decide for you.

Judge each deal against the recorded low and usual price, not the was-price on the badge.
A price with no history behind it yet cannot be verified, so give it time or compare a similar tracked item.
Deeper, more honest cuts tend to land when a range is being cleared rather than at the first markdown.