How Price Scout validates and compares prices.

• A displayed price must link to a retailer-controlled source page.
• Every stored result includes a retrieval timestamp and reference ZIP code.
• Unsourced prices are not published as current prices.
• Affiliate links are labeled and are not used as evidence for displayed Amazon prices.

Product titles and retailer categories must match a strict category definition. Adjacent items are excluded: diaper wipes are not diapers, litter deodorizer is not cat litter, mugs are not coffee, and food packaged in a bag is not a trash bag.

Category rules are applied when a price snapshot is saved and again when cached data is read. This second check prevents older data from reappearing after a rule improves.

A retailer name alone does not define the price. Price Scout also records the selected store, ZIP, source channel, and fulfillment method so an in-store catalog price is not silently mixed with a pickup or delivery amount.

• H-E-B results use the selected store's retailer-source catalog context; its in-store price remains separate from curbside and delivery pricing.
• Sprouts and The Fresh Market can expose products through retailer-branded online-shopping systems. Those are treated as retailer-controlled shopping contexts, while their fulfillment price and fees remain distinct from an expected shelf price.
• In-store, pickup, delivery, same-day, and shipping observations are tracked as separate fulfillment methods.
• A weekly-ad price, member price, clipped coupon, personalized offer, or multi-buy promotion is not transferred to another channel unless the official source verifies the same eligibility and terms.
• Ordinary current prices remain ordinary price checks; promotions are labeled as deals only when the source verifies the promotion.

• Toilet paper and paper towels: price per 100 sheets, with incompatible formats kept separate.
• Laundry detergent: price per labeled load, separated by liquid, powder, pod, or sheet format.
• Diapers: price per diaper within the same diaper size; wipes and training pants are excluded.
• Coffee: price per ounce for bagged coffee or per pod for coffee pods; formats remain separate.
• Batteries: price per battery within the same size and chemistry.
• Other categories use category-specific ounce, pound, count, bag, or fluid-ounce groups.

If at least two stores do not share a defensible comparison group, the page shows source-price references and does not claim a best unit value.

Retailer comparison guides separate editorial workflow advice from current price evidence. Each evidence row requires a source-backed result from both named retailers in the same reference ZIP and the same category-specific comparison group.

• Low-confidence and unavailable records are excluded from retailer-pair evidence.
• Every comparison identifies its reference ZIP, retrieval date, fulfillment method, and loyalty or promotion state.
• Each priced item retains its visible package size and compatible normalized unit price.
• A category win uses normalized unit price, not the lower package sticker price.
• A difference of one cent or less in the normalized unit is reported as a tie.
• Categories without compatible records from both retailers are omitted instead of assigned a winner.
• Amazon affiliate links are not treated as displayed price evidence.

Price Scout separates a verified price drop from a current price check. A current price is useful shopping evidence, but it is not described as a discount without a retailer-reported previous price or sufficient observed price history.

• A verified Walmart price drop must save at least $2 and 10% against the supported previous price.
• Walmart deal and current-price records are hidden after 36 hours without a successful refresh.
• Other retailer deal pages label indexed records as current price checks and use a 48-hour freshness limit.
• Retailer deal pages require at least three fresh source-backed records before search indexing.
• Focused Walmart category pages require at least three fresh verified drops before search indexing.
• Weekly ads, digital coupons, loyalty prices, gift cards, and multi-buy requirements remain subject to the retailer's current terms.

Every published record links to the retailer source and discloses its reference ZIP and retrieval time. Machine-readable JSON, CSV, and RSS resources use the same labels and freshness rules.

Price Scout research articles use the same validated retailer records as the current-price and comparison pages. Each study publishes its reference market, latest included observation, record count, methodology, limitations, and machine-readable dataset.

• Retailer indexes compare compatible normalized units and disclose category coverage.
• Membership break-even estimates separate current product differences from fees, rewards, gas, coupons, and waste.
• A current package-size difference is not called shrinkflation without compatible historical evidence.
• Personalized rewards programs are not assigned fictional universal dollar savings.
• Dynamic research pages use noindex and leave the sitemap when their evidence becomes stale or too sparse.
• Published research records remain downloadable as JSON or CSV and link to their retailer sources.

A current-price category page is eligible for search indexing only when it has at least three validated prices across at least two stores and its snapshot is no more than 48 hours old. Pages below that threshold remain available to shoppers but use a noindex directive and are omitted from the XML sitemap.

The Price Scout Editorial Team maintains category definitions, formulas, source requirements, and guide copy. Retailer prices can change after retrieval, so shoppers should confirm the final cart before purchasing.

To report a classification, package-size, source, or calculation problem, use the contact page. Include the Price Scout URL and retailer source URL so the record can be reviewed.