Are AliExpress discounts real?
By Carlos Marcos · updated 26 October 2026
Mostly, no. Of the 132 AliExpress products we track that advertise a “was” price, 85 (64.4%) have never been charged that price at any point while we have recorded it daily. The typical advertised discount is 50%, but compared with its own 90-day average today’s price is 1.4% more expensive.
The figures
- AliExpress products with at least 14 days of history: 148, with 11,416 daily price readings between 9 June 2026 and 26 October 2026.
- Advertise a “was” price above the current price: 132.
- That “was” price was never charged on any day, even with a 5% margin: 85 (64.4%).
- Typical advertised discount (median): 50%. 43 products advertise almost exactly half off, between 48% and 52%.
- Today’s price versus its own 90-day average (median): 1.4% above.
- Price changes of at least 5% per product per month (median): 4.5.
What it means if you are buying
The struck-through percentage does not tell you whether the price is good: for most products it stays the same day after day, because the “was” price does not move even when the price does. The useful comparison is with what the product has actually cost in recent weeks.
The price does move: the median is 4.5 changes of at least 5% a month. If you are not in a hurry, waiting for it to return to its low usually beats trusting the percentage.
On WatchAPrice we never show a “was” price we have not seen charged, and each product’s signal compares the price with its own history.
Examples: the “was” price versus what we have actually seen
| Product | Advertised “was” | Highest price seen | Price today | Days tracked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden massage roller | €21.53 | €7.00 | €6.89 | 101 |
| USB-rechargeable LED light with motion sensor for kitchen | €17.48 | €5.77 | €5.77 | 33 |
| 24 LED rose tree lights | €32.55 | €10.75 | €10.74 | 101 |
| Bluetooth wireless remote for selfies | €18.75 | €6.35 | €6.19 | 93 |
| Hot stone electric Gua Sha massager | €107.86 | €36.99 | €34.52 | 103 |
| Industrial sewing machine lighting lamp | €19.25 | €6.74 | €6.74 | 33 |
| Portable LED light for tents | €49.89 | €17.49 | €16.81 | 102 |
| Replacement mop cleaning pad for Roborock S7 MaxV Plus | €20.01 | €7.15 | €6.80 | 103 |
| USB desk lamp, touch night light with 3 levels | €28.15 | €10.29 | €9.29 | 103 |
| (Coupon code: GCC800) ABIR X9 Robot Vacuum | €874.50 | €323.69 | €192.39 | 103 |
How we measured it
Once a day we read each product’s price from the AliExpress affiliate catalogue, together with the “was” price the store declares. Each reading is stored with its date and the series is never corrected backwards.
Only products with at least 14 days of history are included. A “was” price counts as seen if on some day we recorded a price equal to it or at most 5% below.
The figures are recalculated every day with that day’s data, so they may change between visits.
Limitations
- Our series starts on 9 June 2026: a product may have cost its “was” price before that date and we would not know.
- This is not a random sample of AliExpress but the products we track (mostly electronics, computing and home).
You can cite these figures by linking to this page.