Data & Statistics
How Long Do Furniture “Sales” Really Last?
We track live prices — and price history — across thousands of UK furniture products every day. That let us ask a simple question: when something is marked “on sale”, is it a genuine, temporary discount — or has the “sale” price effectively become the new normal price?
We looked at every currently-discounted product we track with enough price history to tell, going back to 19 May 2026.
59.3%
of currently-discounted products were never once seen at their full price in the period we tracked them.
40.7%
came off “sale” and returned to full price at least once — a genuine, temporary promotion.
Based on an average observation window of 31 days per product.
Why this matters
A “was £X, now £Y” label implies urgency — buy now, before the price goes back up. But for a majority of the discounted furniture we track, the discounted price simply is the price, for as long as we've been watching. That's not necessarily dishonest — a retailer's “was” price can be a genuine reference price even if it's rarely charged — but it does mean the discount itself isn't a signal you should act on quickly.
How to spot a permanent “sale”
- Check the price history before you buy. Every product page on Compare Furnishings shows a live price chart when we have enough data, so you can see whether the price has actually moved — not just what today's discount claims.
- Don't let urgency rush you. A “sale ends soon” banner doesn't mean the price will go up if you wait.
- Compare across retailers, not just against the “was” price. A discounted price at one shop can still be higher than another retailer's everyday price for the same or a similar product — that's the whole reason to compare, not just take one retailer's word for the deal.
See it for yourself
Every product page shows its own price history where we have enough data — and lets you compare live prices across every UK retailer we track.