What "up to" actually promises
The phrase "up to 70 percent off" states a maximum, not the discount you will get on any particular item. "Up to" only sets an upper limit. The claim is already true if a single item in the entire promotion reaches those 70 percent.
That is not a trick, it follows from what the words mean, but it is often read differently, because the big number sticks in your mind and suggests that the discount applies to the whole selection.
Why the top rate usually covers only a few items
In a promotion with varying discounts, most items usually sit closer to the lower end of the range. The headline figure often applies only to individual items, frequently ones being discontinued or with little demand. That comes from the logic of the promotion itself: a shop is more likely to clear out leftover stock with a big discount, while items that are currently in high demand are usually only reduced moderately.
The big number in the advertising often comes from exactly this leftover stock, not from the broad middle of the range.
Where you see "up to" most often
On category pages, in banners and in newsletter subject lines especially, "up to" is one of the most widely used phrases, because a single number grabs a lot of attention while still being accurate. It also appears regularly in seasonal promotions with many different items from various brands, because a single discount rate for the whole selection is hard to state there.
The broader a promotion is, meaning the more different items and brands it covers, the more likely you are to see "up to" instead of a fixed percentage. That is not a warning sign in itself; it simply means the promotion is made up of many individual offers reduced by different amounts.
A worked example from a category page
Say a category page advertises "up to 70 percent off", and you are interested in a particular item that normally costs 100 euros. On the product page itself, the discount might be just 20 percent, giving a price of 80 euros.
The two statements do not contradict each other. Somewhere in the category there is another item with 70 percent off; the one you want just is not among them. The only reliable figure is the one on the specific product page, not the biggest number on the category overview.
What the discount is actually measured against
In the EU, price reductions are subject to a rule that the reference price must be the lowest price of the previous 30 days, not an arbitrarily high price that was rarely actually charged. That protects you from a discount looking artificially large because the "previous" price was hardly ever charged in reality. This is an EU rule; other countries, such as the UK, the US or Canada, have their own rules on price comparisons.
It does not, however, say anything about how big the discount on a particular item will be within an "up to" promotion. That is still the shop's decision for each individual item.
Why the wording can change during a promotion
With longer promotions, running over several weeks for example, the advertised maximum often changes too. At the start, shops often tempt you with a moderate "up to" figure, while towards the end, when leftover stock needs to be cleared, a much higher number suddenly appears in the advertising. That does not mean the whole selection has become cheaper; usually it just means a new, more heavily reduced item has been added to the promotion and now provides the top figure.
If you have your eye on a particular item, you should therefore not wait for a higher "up to" number on the assumption that your discount will automatically go up as well. The discount on a specific item changes independently of whatever maximum is being advertised, and you will only see it if you check the product page itself regularly.
How to find the real discount on your item
- Open the specific product page instead of relying on the figure from the category overview.
- Compare the current price shown with the crossed-out reference price directly on the product page.
- Where possible, sort or filter the category by discount size to see which items actually come close to the advertised maximum.
- In larger promotions, check several items before assuming that the highest advertised figure is typical for the whole selection.
We explain how to interpret recommended retail prices and reference prices in our article on the recommended retail price. How a price has actually developed over time is covered in the article on price history. You can find current promotions by shop on our shops page, and we answer common questions about discounts on our FAQ page.
Frequently asked questions
Does "up to 70 percent off" mean most items are heavily reduced?
No. The phrase only states the highest discount found in the promotion. It says nothing about how many items actually reach that figure, and in practice it is usually a handful of items, not the broad selection.
Can a shop simply advertise any figure as an "up to" discount?
The advertised maximum must actually apply to at least one item in the promotion, otherwise the claim would be misleading. In the EU, the reference price the discount is based on must also be the lowest price of the previous 30 days; outside the EU, local rules apply.
Why do I see a different discount on the product page than on the category page?
The category page usually shows the range across all items in the promotion, while the product page gives the actual discount for that specific product. Both figures can be correct at the same time without matching.
Is it worth hunting specifically for the 70 percent items?
Only if you are interested in the item anyway. A big discount alone does not make an item a sensible buy if you would not have needed it otherwise.
