MakeMyTrip's offer wall carried 73 cards when we read it on 1 September 2026, and sorting them by the expiry date printed on each one changes the picture entirely. Most of the wall runs to 30 or 31 December. Eight cards expire between 3 and 11 September, and they are almost all airline sales: Etihad Airways on the 3rd, Qatar Airways at up to 30 per cent off on the 6th, AirAsia's Thailand fares from Rs. 12,850 on the 8th, FLY91 cashback on the 9th, and two 11 September bus and multi-category cards. Eleven cards print a coupon code — MMTSPECIAL, PRIMODAY, FLIX15, MEGABUS, RTCNEW, INTRCITY, the four regional bus codes MMTNORTH, MMTSOUTH, MMTEAST and MMTWEST, and VISASIGNATURE — and nine of those are bus offers running to the end of December. Almost no card publishes its minimum spend or rupee cap, and every headline is worded “up to”.

Searching for AbhiBus cancellation charges returns no number, because AbhiBus does not publish one: its FAQ says cancellation terms vary from bus partner to bus partner, and the deduction for your specific bus is shown on the selection screen before you pay. What the site does set is everything around that. The cut-off is when the bus starts from its first boarding point, not yours. Four refund regimes can apply to a single ticket, and three are chosen before payment: the partner's own terms by default; the paid Free Cancellation add-on, which returns 100 per cent of the base fare if you cancel more than six hours out but does not refund its own fee; the ASSURED tag, which adds up to 100 per cent for a bus more than two hours late (claimable even if you travelled) and up to 150 per cent if the operator cancels; and a full refund of the total when the operator cancels the service. Refunds are processed same-day, but take 2 to 7 working days to reach a bank account.

Tata CLiQ's perfume shelf held 28 fragrances on 1 September 2026, from Rs. 413 to Rs. 10,320, and it is not priced bottle by bottle. Twenty-five of the 28 land on exactly five discount rates — 10, 15, 20, 23 or 25 per cent — and which rate applies tracks the brand rather than the price, the size or the category. Every Ajmal core listing is 23 per cent off; every Jaguar Classic is 25; every Calvin Klein, Nautica and Tommy Hilfiger is pinned at 10. The four Jaguar Classic variants all sell at exactly Rs. 3,675 off an identical Rs. 4,900 MRP, and four listings from three different houses — Rasasi, Lattafa twice and Jaguar Pace — all sell at exactly Rs. 4,675 off Rs. 5,500. The deepest routine tier, 20 per cent, holds the dearest bottles on the shelf, so prestige and discount run backwards here.

We read Amazon India's laptop search results on 1 September 2026, logged out — 16 listings, 15 with both a price and an MRP, running from Rs. 38,990 to Rs. 1,29,990 and from 4 to 52 per cent off. Line the discounts up against the review counts and the badge stops looking like a deal signal: four of the five listings at 46 per cent or more had fewer than 25 customer ratings, and one had a single rating, while the most-reviewed laptop on the shelf — an Acer Aspire Lite with 905 ratings — sat at 33 per cent and the second most-reviewed at 11. Discount depth is mostly a brand habit: every Lenovo listing was 36 per cent off or deeper, no ASUS listing reached 32, and the Rs. 1,29,990 Zenbook 14 carried the shallowest badge on the page at 4 per cent. One Lenovo showed an MRP of Rs. 1,49,000, higher than the real price of the dearest laptop here.

We read Udemy's development catalogue on 1 September 2026, logged out and on Indian pricing, and every one of the 22 courses sold between Rs. 449 and Rs. 609 — a spread of Rs. 160 from cheapest to dearest. The struck prices printed above them ranged from Rs. 799 to Rs. 4,229, more than fivefold, and that is the only reason some courses carry an 86 per cent badge and others 35 per cent. Fifteen of the 22 are long-running bestsellers with struck prices of Rs. 3,199 to Rs. 4,229, all showing exactly 86 per cent off. The newer AI and agent courses carry struck prices of Rs. 799 or Rs. 819 and show 35 to 44 per cent — while costing the same or less. The cheapest course on the page, at Rs. 449, shows 44 per cent off; the dearest, at Rs. 609, shows 86 per cent. The badge runs opposite to the price.

We read Amazon India's popularity-sorted results for office chairs, study tables and bookshelves on 31 August 2026 — 90 organic listings, sponsored placements removed. Office chairs are the tightest shelf: all 30 between Rs. 3,475 and Rs. 8,923, median Rs. 5,524, and 21 of them from just two sellers, CELLBELL and beAAtho. Eleven of those 30 chairs declare exactly the same Rs. 9,999 MRP behind prices of Rs. 3,475 to Rs. 4,199, which is what spreads their badges from 58 to 65 per cent. Study tables (Rs. 249 to Rs. 22,999) and bookshelves (Rs. 479 to Rs. 28,199) span far wider, but their cheap ends are folding laptop trays and fabric wall racks rather than desks and bookcases. Twenty-four of the 90 listings carry fewer than 50 reviews.

Amazon's Back to School store quietly gathers its student-electronics deals under one roof, and we swept the whole shelf live on August 31, 2026. Twenty picks made the cut — five study laptops from a Rs. 38,990 Acer to an i7 IdeaPad at 32% off, three gaming machines up to the only RTX 5050 in the store, five tablets led by the 4.6-rated Galaxy Tab S10 Lite at 40% off, four sets of earphones from Rs. 772, and three instruments for the after-school hours. Every price, MRP and rating is from the live listing, with review counts shown. Roles, not rankings: best overall, biggest steal, best under Rs. 1,000.

Croma's own search returned 48 audio listings on 31 August 2026 — 21 headphones and neckbands, 11 true wireless earbuds and 16 Bluetooth speakers — priced from Croma's Rs. 649 portable speaker to Sony's Rs. 39,990 WH-1000XM6, median Rs. 2,449. The median badge is 28 per cent, and it sorts almost perfectly by brand rather than by deal: Apple at a 5 per cent median, OnePlus 6, Marshall 14, Sony 20, Croma's own brand 26, JBL 36, boAt 67 and Noise 72. The deepest badge on the shelf is boAt's Nirvana Ion ANC Pro at 84 per cent, priced Rs. 2,299 against a declared Rs. 13,990. Croma's own brand is the largest block here at 14 listings and the cheapest by median at Rs. 1,449, though only three listings on the whole shelf carry more than 100 ratings.

Myntra's women's saree listing returned 34 sarees under Rs. 1,500 on 31 August 2026, from a KALINI printed saree at Rs. 450 to a Parmila Fashion sequinned organza at Rs. 1,499, median Rs. 913. Fifteen sit in the Rs. 1,000–1,499 band, thirteen between Rs. 500 and Rs. 999 and six under Rs. 500. The badges run from 42 to 90 per cent, and they track the seller's stated MRP rather than the price: the 90 per cent belongs to the Rs. 1,499 saree because it claims an MRP of Rs. 14,975, ten times its own price, while the two smallest badges belong to two of the more expensive listings. Twenty-five of the 34 carry ratings, median 4.06 — and the best-rated, all about you's Rs. 1,457 satin at 4.5 from 15,842, sits beside a Rs. 1,431 saree rated 2.2.

AJIO's own search returned 125 menswear listings on 31 August 2026 — 41 pairs of jeans, 43 casual shirts and 41 polo T-shirts — priced from a Rs. 232 V-MART polo to a Rs. 1,650 casual shirt, median Rs. 632. The three categories are priced almost on top of each other, with median badges within a point of 66 per cent. The badge itself runs inversely to brand recognition: V-MART shows 7 per cent, MAX 11, Louis Philippe 37 and 39, Benetton 40, while NEONOMAD, COSMIC, 7 Threads and Univibe run 80 to 82. U.S. Polo Assn. is the most-listed brand at 23 listings and carries both the highest median price (Rs. 951) and the shallowest median badge (49 per cent). No listing on this shelf carries a rating.

The first page of Myntra's women's dress listing, read on 31 August 2026, returned 34 dresses — and not one of them asks more than Rs. 1,499. Prices run from Rs. 450 for a 2013 USK COLLECTION crepe dress to Rs. 1,499 for a Marks & Spencer cotton mini, with a median of Rs. 767 and 22 of the 34 between Rs. 500 and Rs. 999. Discount badges run 43 to 84 per cent, and they measure the stated MRP rather than the dress: the median listing claims an MRP 2.98 times its own price, LULU & SKY claims 6.2 times and Libas 1.7. Where this shelf is unusually strong is evidence — 27 of 34 are rated and 17 carry more than 1,000 ratings, led by aayu's georgette wrap at 4.4 from 20,430. The seven unrated listings include the biggest badge on the page.

AJIO's own search for watches returned 67 listings on 31 August 2026, priced from Rs. 300 for a TREX analogue to Rs. 8,628 for a Titan Raga, with a median of Rs. 1,225 and 29 listings under Rs. 1,000. Two things stand out. Eighteen of the 67 state exactly the same MRP — Rs. 1,999 — across five sellers, while asking Rs. 320 to Rs. 600, which is what produces their 70-84 per cent badges. And the badge is a house rule per brand rather than an event: Titan shows 3 per cent on all six of its listings, Joker & Witch 75 on all four, Armani Exchange and Fossil exactly 50. The third thing is what is missing: not one of the 67 listings carries a rating or a rating count in AJIO's own data.

Crocs India's own catalogue, read on 31 August 2026 across its Up to 50% Off sale page and its sandal and sneaker listings, returned 77 products priced from Rs. 1,797 to Rs. 6,396, median Rs. 2,996. The sale category held 34 of them and its deepest discount was 40 per cent, on three listings; twenty were at 20 per cent. Across the whole read only four discount rates exist — 20, 25, 30 and 40 per cent — against eleven distinct MRPs, so this is tier pricing rather than product pricing. The 40 per cent tier holds the sneakers, every InMotion Pacer at Rs. 4,797 from Rs. 7,995, and the cheapest sandal at Rs. 1,797. Everyday Baya and Crocband sandals sit at 20 to 25 per cent, or Rs. 2,246 to Rs. 2,396.

Amazon India's popularity-sorted results for mattress, bedsheet and pillow, read on 31 August 2026, returned 90 organic listings — and the three aisles price in opposite directions. Bedsheets run Rs. 188 to Rs. 1,599 with a Rs. 374 median and a 69 per cent median badge, half the shelf at 70 per cent or more. Mattresses run Rs. 1,448 to Rs. 158,634 with a Rs. 7,164 median and a 36 per cent median badge, the two dearest listings discounting 9 and 10 per cent. Pillows sit between, apart from a Purple Pillow listed at Rs. 49,068. Ratings run the other way from badges: the bedsheet aisle's median score is 3.8, with BSB HOME's 18,166-review sheet at 3.3, while Wakefit's ShapeSense mattress holds 4.4 from 88,451 reviews on a 31 per cent badge.

Beardo's own product feed, read on 31 August 2026, carried 84 hair listings priced from Rs. 199 to Rs. 1,499, median Rs. 399. Thirty-two of them ask one of two prices — 18 at Rs. 299 and 14 at Rs. 399 — regardless of whether the product is a shampoo, a wax, a hair colour or a scalp massager. The discounts sit on the bundles: singles run an 11 per cent median with twelve listings at no discount at all, while kits and multipacks run 27 per cent and reach 63. The pack maths is inconsistent. Anti Grey Hair Serum costs Rs. 699 single, Rs. 1,099 for two and Rs. 999 for three, so the three-pack is cheaper than the two-pack; Beer Shampoo's two-pack at Rs. 700 costs Rs. 102 more than two singles. Twenty-four of the 84 listings were out of stock.