We track prices on tens of thousands of fashion products every day. Not once a week. Every day.
We pulled the numbers on 80,590 active products across 47 brands and looked at what the pricing data actually says. Some of it confirmed what we expected. Some of it surprised us.
Here's what we found.
16.3% of Products Are "On Sale" Right Now
Almost a quarter of everything we track is currently listed at a discounted price. The average claimed discount is 30% off.
That sounds great until you think about it. If a quarter of all products are on sale at any given time, is "full price" even the real price? Or is it just a higher number that exists so the sale price looks better?
For some brands, the answer is pretty clear. The "sale" is the default state, and "full price" is the exception.
Where Prices Are Actually Dropping
We recorded 38,708 actual price drops across all products. When a price did fall, it dropped by an average of 22%.
21,044 of those drops were 20% or more, which is usually when a discount starts to actually matter on your wallet.
The categories seeing the most price movement:
- Tops: 15735 price drops recorded
- Bottoms: 8316 price drops recorded
- Dresses: 2341 price drops recorded
- Unknown: 2318 price drops recorded
- Accessories: 2232 price drops recorded
What the Price Trends Look Like Right Now
We tag every product with a price trend based on its recent history: falling, stable, or rising.
Right now, across all 80,590 products:
- 51.7% are falling in price
- 48.3% are rising
- The rest are holding steady
That means there are more products getting cheaper than getting more expensive. If you're patient, the numbers are in your favor.
Not Every Brand Prices the Same Way
This is where things get interesting. Some brands have more than half their catalog on sale at any given time. Others almost never discount.
Brands that run the most promotions:
Brands that rarely discount:
- Faherty: only 18.4% on sale, avg price $140
- Vince: only 18.3% on sale, avg price $291
- Banana Republic: only 13.7% on sale, avg price $112
- Wrangler: only 12.5% on sale, avg price $41
- James Perse: only 10.8% on sale, avg price $318
Neither approach is inherently better. But it changes how you should shop. With heavy promoters, "full price" is rarely the real price, so there's almost always a discount around the corner. With stable pricers, what you see is usually what you get.
What Our Price Verdicts Say
Every product on Bazenda gets a price verdict based on its actual price history. Here's how the numbers break down right now:
- Buy Now (at or near the lowest recorded price): 44.5%
- Good Deal (below the recent average): 2.0%
- Fair Price (around the average): 36.2%
- Wait (above average, likely to come down): 1.1%
- Overpriced (well above what it usually costs): 16.1%
That means roughly 46% of products are at a genuinely good price right now. The rest? You'd be better off waiting.
Category by Category
Pricing behavior varies a lot depending on what you're shopping for:
- Tops: avg $130, 17.8% on sale, avg 1.9 price changes per product
- Bottoms: avg $164, 18.2% on sale, avg 2.0 price changes per product
- Shoes: avg $284, 13.5% on sale, avg 1.6 price changes per product
- Dresses: avg $353, 14.8% on sale, avg 1.8 price changes per product
- Accessories: avg $277, 11.4% on sale, avg 1.9 price changes per product
- Outerwear: avg $801, 17.1% on sale, avg 1.7 price changes per product
- Activewear: avg $73, 10.4% on sale, avg 1.6 price changes per product
- Swimwear: avg $84, 15.1% on sale, avg 1.9 price changes per product
Activewear and sneakers tend to be the most volatile, while basics and denim tend to hold steadier.
What This Means If You're Shopping Right Now
A few things worth keeping in mind:
- A sale tag alone tells you nothing. 16.3% of products are "on sale" at any given time. The question isn't whether something is discounted. The question is whether it's cheaper than it usually is.
- Watch the trend, not just the number. If a product's price has been falling, it often keeps going. If it's been stable for weeks, that's probably what it costs.
- Some brands discount by default. If more than half a brand's products are always on sale, the "sale price" is just the price. Don't let the strikethrough fool you.
- Category matters. Not everything follows the same pricing pattern. What works for dresses doesn't apply to sneakers.
The difference between overpaying and getting a good deal usually isn't luck. It's information.
Why We're Sharing This
This is the same data that powers the price tracking and price verdicts inside Bazenda. Every product gets a 30-day price chart and a verdict based on where its current price sits relative to its history.
We think shoppers deserve to see how pricing actually works. Not the marketing version. The real version.
We'll keep tracking, and we'll keep sharing what we find.