Eight Vijay Sales kitchen appliance category pages, read on 3 September 2026, hold 131 listings running from Rs. 249 to Rs. 25,800 at a median of Rs. 3,360 and a median 37% off, with 62 under Rs. 3,000 and 12 under Rs. 1,000. The air fryer is the shelf that has moved: it starts at Rs. 2,615, carries a median 44% off, and five of the aisle's six deepest badges are air fryers — against a median mixer grinder price of Rs. 6,318. Hand blenders are the opposite, cheap to enter at Rs. 699 but the shallowest discounts on the aisle at a median 19%. By brand, Lifelong runs a median 70% off and KENT 54%, while Philips runs 24% across its 20 listings and Ninja 14% at a median Rs. 10,999. Vijay Sales publishes no ratings on these cards, so price and stated MRP are the only numbers available.

Amazon's oven searches, read on 3 September 2026, hold two shelves under one category name. Across the 62 listings we kept, OTGs run Rs. 1,749 to Rs. 18,367 at a median Rs. 4,499 and a median 47% off, with 18 of 29 under Rs. 5,000 and 20 of 29 badged 40% or more. Microwaves run Rs. 4,890 to Rs. 46,290 at a median Rs. 13,580 and just 15% off, with only four under Rs. 8,000 — the best-rated machine on the shelf, IFB's 30 litre convection, is 9% off, and LG's 20 litre solo is 4% off. The discount is attached to the appliance type rather than to any sale. Two cautions from the data: several brands display one shared rating across models (Pigeon's 9L, 20L and 50L OTGs all show 3.4 from 7,617), and nine listings stated MRPs at 100 times their selling price, rendering as 99% badges; all nine were excluded here.

We read Croma's own results for smart watch, smartwatch and fitness band on 2 September 2026 — two pages each, no filters, no account — and got 80 distinct listings from Rs. 999 to Rs. 85,490. Sorted by price the shelf has a hole in it: the most expensive budget watch is Rs. 7,999 and the cheapest Apple is Rs. 17,994, with nothing in between. That gap separates two completely different pricing regimes. Apple is 38 of the 80 listings — nearly half the shelf — and its discount runs 2 to 15 per cent with a median of 4, twelve listings sitting at exactly 4. Noise (17 listings) runs 25 to 83 per cent, boAt 65 to 77, GOBOULT 69 to 76. The badge identifies the brand, not the bargain. Ratings cannot break the tie either: only 37 of 80 listings carry one and the largest count on the whole shelf is 31. Below: every brand grouped, everything under Rs. 3,000, the thin Rs. 3,000-8,000 band, and the Apple half priced out.

We read both smartwatch shelves on the morning of 2 September 2026 — Amazon.in's popularity-sorted results for three queries (52 watches after dropping two resistance bands the fitness-band query returned) and Croma's results for the same terms (80 listings). Amazon's median is Rs. 2,249 at 52 per cent off with 62 per cent of the shelf under Rs. 3,000; Croma's is Rs. 21,492 at 15 per cent off. Nearly all of that 9.6x gap is one brand: Croma lists 38 Apple Watch variants from Rs. 17,994 to Rs. 85,490, and Amazon's results returned none. On the five brands both stock, Croma was actually cheaper at the floor on three — noise at Rs. 999, GOBOULT at Rs. 1,199, Samsung at Rs. 4,799. The difference that should decide it is evidence: Amazon's most-reviewed listing carries 134,959 ratings and ten clear 10,000, while only 37 of Croma's 80 listings show a rating count at all and the largest on the shelf is 31.

Forty-eight listings read from reliancedigital.in's own search results on 2 September 2026 — twelve each of air conditioners, televisions, refrigerators and washing machines — with every price, MRP and discount as Reliance Digital displays them. The four shelves behave nothing alike. Every split AC is between Rs. 24,990 and Rs. 48,990 and none is under 22 per cent off, with two LG 1.5-tonners at 51 and 56 per cent. Televisions run from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 53,490, and the deepest badges belong to Foxsky, Soyer and VYN while Samsung's 55-inch is 19 per cent off. Refrigerators span Rs. 11,000 to Rs. 1,17,990 — and two of the twelve results are Samsung door panels rather than fridges. Washing machines are the flattest shelf in the store, a 23 per cent median, including an IFB front loader marked down by 1 per cent.

Croma's cancellation-and-return page, read on 2 September 2026, opens by ruling out the thing most shoppers assume: it “offers a replacement-only policy”, and replacement applies within the return window “only for defective or damaged products”. Change of mind appears under Exclusions as Buyer's Remorse. A refund is paid in two named situations — the wrong product was delivered, or a replacement is owed and the model is out of stock. The window is seven days for all 26 categories Croma lists, with a 48-hour clock for a damaged phone or tablet. Damage must be reported before the product is used or activated; TVs and soundbars must not be opened by the customer before installation; store purchases cannot be claimed for scratches after handover; software problems are never a replacement; and warranty needs brand-authorised installation within 7 days. Refunds are processed in 2 working days and land in 5 to 7.

Thirty-one sunglasses listings read from tatacliq.com's own search results on 2 September 2026, with every price, MRP, discount, rating and rating count as Tata CLiQ displays them. The shelf runs from Rs. 553 to Rs. 12,231, and it carries only five discount percentages: 74, 67, 50 to 53, a flat 30 and a flat 10. Which tier a frame lands in is decided by the brand on it. Every badge above 50 per cent belongs to a house label marking down from one shared MRP — Rs. 4,999 for all three Resist Eyewear listings, Rs. 6,000 for all four John Jacobs, Rs. 1,999 for the Vincent Chase trio. Ray-Ban and Oakley Junior sit at a flat 10 per cent with one pilot frame at 30, and nothing on the page is priced between Rs. 6,083 and Rs. 8,541. Only eight listings have ten or more ratings behind their score.

AJIO's returns and refunds policy, read on 2 September 2026, does not run one return window — it runs three. Apparel, footwear, accessories, winterwear and bags get 10 days; sunglasses, watches, sarees, dress material, home furnishing and jewellery get 7; and a long list gets nothing at all, including beauty, skin care, hair care, fragrances, makeup, innerwear other than bras, smartphones, smart watches, tech accessories, kitchen and dining, decor, toys, baby care and made-to-order items. The rule that decides most rejected requests is that a return has to be AJIO's error: the policy states it will not accept a return where the customer ordered the wrong model, colour or product, and routes size problems to the exchange process instead. Refunds take 7 to 10 business days, are never paid in cash, and exclude shipping and convenience fees; cancellation is possible only before the order is packed and invoiced.

A hundred and twenty-five kidswear and kids' footwear listings read from Myntra's own boys, girls and kids pages on 2 September 2026, with every price, MRP, rating and rating count as Myntra displays them. Sixty-six are under Rs. 500 and eleven under Rs. 300; the median clothing price is Rs. 478 and the median footwear price Rs. 617. It is the most heavily marked-down shelf we have read on Myntra — 81 listings at 50 per cent off or more, 39 of them at 70 or more — but the deepest badges all belong to multipacks with very high MRPs: a HELLCAT pack of three T-shirts is Rs. 395 against Rs. 3,897, an implied Rs. 1,299 per tee. At the other end, H&M and Marks & Spencer sit at zero discount, Rs. 1,799 to Rs. 2,299. Unusually, the ratings here have volume: 46 listings carry 100 or more.

We read myntra.com/men-formal-shoes, /men-loafers and /men-derbys on 2 September 2026 through the site's own listing payload — 92 rows, 79 distinct listings once colourway repeats are removed. The shelf is cheap and dense at the bottom: 55 listings under Rs. 1,000, 27 under Rs. 700, everything between Rs. 449 and Rs. 1,803, median Rs. 849 at 70 per cent off. The finding worth carrying to checkout is that the discount badge and the price move independently. Bata's 12 listings never print more than 50 per cent off — the discount takes only four values across the brand — yet Bata's median price of Rs. 593 undercuts HERE&NOW's Rs. 674 at a median 76 per cent off. A Mast & Harbour loafer at 83 per cent off costs more than a Bata oxford at 50 per cent off. Below: the brand table, every listing under Rs. 700, and the most-rated shoes on the shelf with what they actually cost.

We read both men's formal shoe shelves on the morning of 2 September 2026, logged out and unfiltered: 79 distinct Myntra listings across formal shoes, loafers and derbys, and 219 on AJIO across the same three searches. Myntra's median is Rs. 849 at 70 per cent off and AJIO's Rs. 1,435 at 59 — but the medians hide the real difference. AJIO holds both ends: its cheapest shoe is Rs. 300 against Myntra's Rs. 449, and its dearest is Rs. 8,000 against Myntra's Rs. 1,803. Myntra's shelf is a narrow budget band with 70 per cent under Rs. 1,000; AJIO's is a full range carrying Lee Cooper, RED TAPE, U.S. Polo Assn., ARROW and ten STEVE MADDEN listings at a Rs. 6,899 median. The decisive gap is evidence: AJIO shows a customer rating on none of its 219 listings, the same absence we found on its home shelf the same morning, while Myntra shows one on 52 of 79. On Bata, the only shared brand with a real sample, Myntra's median is Rs. 593 against AJIO's Rs. 1,182.

We read Amazon.in's popularity-sorted results for water purifier ro, water purifier under 10000 and ro uv water purifier on 2 September 2026 — 47 rows, 34 distinct products. Six of the 34 carried a 99 per cent discount badge, and in every one of those six the MRP printed on the search tile was exactly one hundred times the selling price. We opened all six product pages and read the M.R.P. field there: not one matched. The KENT New Grand's product page says Rs. 23,000, not Rs. 13,89,900; the Pureit Classic says Rs. 3,500, not Rs. 2,99,900. Set those six aside and the shelf is readable: 28 listings from Rs. 3,956 to Rs. 18,499, median Rs. 8,739 at 46 per cent off, 20 of them under Rs. 10,000. Aquaguard, KENT, Pureit, Livpure and Havells sit at 20 to 57 per cent off; Aqua X Pure, PROVEN, AquaUltra and Addyz at 71 to 83. Below: the full 100x table, every brand grouped, and both price bands listed out with review counts.

We read both water purifier shelves on the morning of 2 September 2026 — Amazon.in's popularity-sorted results for three queries (34 products, six excluded for showing an MRP exactly 100 times the price) and Croma's results for two queries (55 listings). Amazon's median is Rs. 8,739 at 46 per cent off with 71 per cent of the shelf under Rs. 10,000; Croma's is Rs. 19,490 at 26 per cent off with 16 per cent under Rs. 10,000. The 2.2x gap is not markup. Five brands priced Rs. 3,956 to Rs. 5,690 — AQUA D PURE, Aqua X Pure, PROVEN, AquaUltra and Addyz — appear only on Amazon and pull its median down, while AO Smith and Croma's own brand appear only on Croma, which also stocks each shared brand further up its range. Where both carry the same brand it splits: Havells was cheaper on Amazon with no overlap between the ranges, and the Native M0 was Rs. 13,499 on both.

Sixty-three refrigerator, washing machine, microwave and OTG listings from croma.com's own search on 2 September 2026, with every price, MRP, discount, rating and rating count as Croma displays them. A fridge and a washing machine cost about the same at the median — Rs. 17,690 and Rs. 18,190 — while microwaves sit at Rs. 9,990 and the OTG shelf starts at Rs. 1,849. The discount percentages track the maker rather than the category: Croma's own-brand appliances run 0 to 54 per cent off, and 19 of those 20 listings carry an MRP that is an exact round thousand, against two of the 43 brand-name listings. The largest brand-name discount on the page is 34 per cent and the largest rupee saving is Rs. 24,000 on LG's Rs. 67,990 466-litre fridge. Only 15 of 63 listings have ten or more ratings behind their score.

We read AJIO's own results for bedsheet, bed cover, curtain and cushion cover on 2 September 2026 — two pages each, no filters, no account — and got 288 distinct listings. The shelf is cheap: 207 under Rs. 1,000, 62 under Rs. 500, everything between Rs. 130 and Rs. 5,039, median Rs. 734 at 60 per cent off. The finding that shapes how you shop it is an absence: not one of the 288 listings carries a rating or a rating count, so the discount badge is the only signal on the tile — and 37 listings sit at exactly 60 per cent off with 29 more at exactly 50, against 84 MRPs and 162 selling prices. One brand is 52 of the 77 curtains. Arrabi's 83–87 per cent badges come off MRPs up to Rs. 8,489 and land at an ordinary Rs. 900 median. Below: the four aisles priced, the twelve biggest brands, and the cheapest listings on the shelf.