Methodology
Last updated
Every badge and figure on PriceProven comes from prices we recorded ourselves. This page says how a reading is taken, how often, and the exact rules a price must pass before we call it low, normal or high — and when we refuse to call it anything.
In short
- Prices come from AliExpress through its affiliate interface, in US dollars, dated by the day we read them.
- A listing has at most one reading per day, and most are read every few days: lately about 22,753 listings a day, roughly 18% of those we track.
- No verdict before 7 days with a reading, none when our newest reading is over 96 hours old, and none when our readings are more than 3 times apart.
- The seller’s crossed-out price is never used as evidence, only tested.
1.Where the prices come from
We ask AliExpress for the current price of each listing we track through the AliExpress affiliate interface — the same source AliExpress gives its affiliates — and record what it returns, in US dollars, with the date. The date is the UTC calendar day. We never edit a past reading, and when AliExpress returns no price for a listing that day, nothing is written rather than something guessed.
2.How often a listing is read
A listing has at most one reading per day. Listings are read in turn on a recurring schedule, so most are read every few days rather than daily: over the last seven complete days we read about 22,753 listings a day, roughly 18% of the 127,563 we track. Every product page prints the date of its newest reading, and a count of “readings” on this site always means days with a reading, not calendar days.
3.What a reading holds
Since 13 August 2026 each reading also stores the price and currency exactly as AliExpress returned them, so it can be checked against its source. Readings from 6 to 13 August were taken before that column existed. They stay in the record — nothing contradicts them — but nothing confirms them either.
Product pages and the badges on this website use every reading. Our browser extension uses only the readings that carry their own evidence, and says so. We have also started to record which option (size, colour, bundle) each reading was for; until a listing has enough of those, the rule on spread below keeps mixed options from being compared.
4.How a price is judged
A price is judged against the lowest, highest and average of our own readings for that listing. The checks run in this order; the first that applies is the badge.
| Badge | When |
|---|---|
| Tracking | Fewer than 7 days with a reading. No verdict yet. |
| Prices vary widely | Our highest reading is more than 3 times our lowest — almost always readings of different options. No verdict. |
| Steady price | The whole range is under $0.20 and under 5% of the average. Too narrow to call today cheap or expensive. |
| Not read recently | Our newest reading is more than 96 hours old. Today’s price is not one we read, so nothing is said about it. |
| Lowest of N readings | Today is within 2% and within $0.10 of the lowest we recorded — both, not either. |
| Near its lowest | Today sits in the bottom 30% of our recorded range. |
| Normal price | Today sits between 30% and 70% of the range. |
| Above usual | Today sits in the top 30% of the range. |
The same rules run in the lists — “at their lowest” counts on the homepage, the featured order of category pages — through one shared test, so a section heading cannot count a listing its own card would not badge.
5.The seller’s crossed-out price
AliExpress lets a seller show any “original” price beside the one they charge, and does not check it. We never use it as evidence. After 14 days with a reading we test it: when it is more than 1.15 times the highest price we ever recorded for that listing, we say we never saw that price — which is a statement about our record, not proof the seller invented it.
6.One product, many shops
The same product is often listed by several shops under the same title. We track every copy (127,563 listings), because each has its own price; grids and category pages show one per title, the cheapest (117,922 listings). That is why a figure that says “we track” is larger than one that says “we show”.
7.What we do not have
The affiliate interface gives us no star rating, review count, stock level, delivery time or seller score, so none of them appears here as ours, and a judgement that would need one says “not enough evidence yet”. It also gives us no coupon codes except ones tied to our own affiliate account, so we do not list codes we have not been given.
8.Check it yourself
The price record page lists our readings day by day and offers the rows behind our main claim as a file. Apply the rules above to it and you should arrive at the figures we print. If you do not, please tell us through the contact page.