A single "price" is a fiction. A procurement-grade workflow tracks at minimum eight price tiers and synthesizes them into a fair-price band (aspirational / target / walk-away) before the recommendation step.
| Tier | What it is | Where to find |
|---|---|---|
| MSRP / RRP / List | Manufacturer's suggested retail. Anchor, not binding. Often inflated to make discounts look bigger. | Manufacturer product page |
| Street price | Actual transaction price across authorized retail. Always below MSRP for mature SKUs. | Regional aggregators (Google Shopping, PriceSpy, Idealo, Kakaku, regional equivalents — see step 2 table) |
| Net price | Out-of-pocket after coupons, cashback, loyalty, bundled rebates. The decision anchor. | Seller page after applying discounts |
| Refurbished / open-box / B-stock | Manufacturer- or retailer-restored. Open-box ~10–30% off new; refurb usually ≥90-day warranty; B-stock cosmetic-grade. | Manufacturer outlet, Best Buy Outlet, Amazon Renewed, retailer refurb |
| Used market | eBay sold listings, specialist resellers. Truth-tier for resale value. | eBay sold (&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1), MPB/KEH (cameras), specialist forums |
| Gray market / parallel import | Genuine product, unauthorized channel. 10–25% cheaper but voids warranty in most regions; region-locked firmware risk. | Cross-border marketplaces |
| Bundle price | SKU sold with accessories/extended warranty. Standalone price often matched, bundle "discounted". | Retailer listing |
| Trade-in residual | OEM credit for old unit. Anchors TCO and replacement cycle. | OEM trade-in program |
Institutional procurement minimum: 3 independent suppliers/channels per SKU before committing. For consumer buying, 3–7 is the practical range before admin burden exceeds informational gain. Always run at least 3 channels.
For each surviving candidate from step 5, run in parallel where possible:
WebFetch the manufacturer product page. Record list price + any active OEM promo.
Use the user's region (from step 4) to pick the right aggregators. Pull top 3 lowest sellers from each.
| Region | Primary aggregators | Major first-party marketplaces |
|---|---|---|
| US | Google Shopping, PCPartPicker (for PC), Amazon, Newegg | Amazon, B&H, Adorama, Newegg, Best Buy |
| UK | PriceSpy, PriceHippo, Google Shopping | Amazon UK, Currys, John Lewis, Argos |
| EU (general) | Idealo (DE/AT/IT/FR/ES), Geizhals (DE/AT), PriceSpy (Nordics) | Amazon DE/FR/IT/ES, MediaMarkt, Saturn, Otto, Fnac |
| Canada | PCPartPicker, Newegg.ca, Google Shopping | Amazon.ca, Best Buy, Canada Computers |
| Australia | StaticICE, PCPartPicker AU, Shopbot | Amazon.au, JB Hi-Fi, Officeworks |
| Japan | Kakaku.com, Price.com | Amazon.co.jp, Rakuten, Yodobashi |
| India | Compare India, Mysmartprice, PriceDekho | Amazon.in, Flipkart, Croma |
| Turkey | Akakce, Cimri | Amazon.com.tr, Hepsiburada, Trendyol, N11 |
| Other / unlisted region | WebSearch "<category> price comparison <region>" to identify local aggregators |
Local marketplaces + Amazon if available |
General caveat: aggregators surface listing price, not transacted price, and may not strip coupons / loyalty discounts. Manual spot-check at the seller page is mandatory in every region.
- Amazon SKUs:
camelcamelcamel.com/product/<ASIN>(free, full history) orkeepa.com(11 marketplaces, deeper data). - Capture: lowest-ever, 90-day low, 12-month median.
- Use to detect fake "was/now" discounts — the FTC bans inflating "was" prices under 16 CFR 233.1. If price-history shows the "was" never held for >2 weeks in 6 months, the discount is fictional.
- eBay sold listings: append
&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1to any search URL. Use median of 5–10 sales. Ignore Best Offer strikethroughs — actual sale price is hidden. - Manufacturer certified-refurb outlet (Apple, Sony, DJI, Best Buy Outlet) — usually 10–25% off new with ≥90-day warranty.
- Domain-specific: KEH / MPB for cameras; Bicycle Bluebook for bikes; eBay for everything else.
Repeat steps 2–3 at lower depth for 2–3 peer SKUs from the candidate slate. Output: peer-tier median price. Used to anchor whether the SKU itself is overpriced for its tier, independent of any one retailer's markup.
Only if user signaled openness to importing.
- WebFetch the listing on a major cross-border retailer (Amazon US/DE/UK, B&H, etc.) priced in the source currency.
- Apply landed-cost math for the user's region:
CIF (cost + insurance + freight) + customs duty + VAT/sales tax + any excise / luxury tax + shipping. - Use the user-region's official customs calculator (search
"<country> import duty calculator"and prefer the government source). Examples:- US: USITC Tariff Database; for personal imports the de minimis threshold varies per country of origin.
- EU (any member state): TARIC database (
ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric). - UK: gov.uk Trade Tariff tool.
- Turkey: ticaret.gov.tr.
- Other regions: search for the equivalent national customs authority tool.
- Verify de minimis rules in user's region — many countries have removed or lowered the low-value customs exemption in 2024–2026; assume full duty + VAT applies unless verified otherwise.
- Rule of thumb: an item must be roughly ≥30–40% cheaper abroad before import math breaks even for personal-volume buying. Exact break-even depends on the destination's duty + VAT stack.
For each top-3 seller in step 2, scan for:
- Third-party marketplace seller (vs. seller-fulfilled-by-marketplace vs. first-party retailer)
- Listing age < 30 days (new sellers = unknown reputation)
- "Was/now" discount where price-history shows the "was" never held
- Refurb listing with no warranty term or < 90-day warranty
- FX-margin manipulation on local listings of imported goods (cross-check against the user-region central bank's effective rate)
- Generic stock images instead of actual product photos
- Seller rating < 95% or < 100 reviews on first-tier marketplaces
Three numbers per candidate:
- Aspirational =
min(12-month low, eBay sold median × 1.15)— best plausible deal seen recently - Target =
peer-tier median − 5%— the "happy buy" price - Walk-away =
min(peer-tier median + 10%, MSRP)— ceiling; above this, kill the deal
Per candidate, a structured object:
{
sku: "Sony WH-1000XM5",
region: "<user region>",
currency: "<user currency>",
msrp: <amount>,
current_low: <amount> (<aggregator>, <seller>),
12mo_low: <amount> (camelcamelcamel or Keepa, FX-converted to user currency),
used_median: <amount> (eBay sold, age <N>-months-old units),
fair_band: { aspirational: <amount>, target: <amount>, walk_away: <amount> },
red_flags: ["<list of any red flags from step 7>"],
best_channel: "<retailer name + authorized status>",
return_policy: "<window + restocking fee + shipping>",
authorized_dealer: <true/false>
}
This object feeds into the TCO computation (step 7) using target as the assumed purchase price, and into the report's Price Discovery table.
Cross-region:
- camelcamelcamel — Amazon price history (US/UK/DE/FR/IT/ES/CA/JP/AU/MX), free, full
- Keepa — 11 Amazon marketplaces, paid for deep history
- PCPartPicker — PC components with native price history (US/UK/DE/CA/AU/FR/IT/ES + others)
- eBay sold listings — used-market truth in any region; append
&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1 - MPB, KEH — used camera gear with public price indices (US/EU/UK ship globally)
- Manufacturer direct — sometimes cheaper than authorized retailer; always check first
Regional aggregators (see step 2 table for full list per region). For any region not pre-mapped, derive via WebSearch "<category> price comparison site <country>".
Price data in the report: ≥1 aggregator link + ≥1 primary seller link, per candidate.