How We Verify Every Deal

Every deal published on Archive Luxury passes through a three-gate verification pipeline before reaching the site. This system exists because the luxury deals landscape is full of noise: inflated original prices, perpetual markdowns that are not real sales, grey market inventory disguised as authorized retail, and outdated deals that expired days ago. Our pipeline filters all of that out. Here is exactly how it works.

The Scale of What We Monitor

Archive Luxury scans 33 authorized luxury retailers every 30 minutes. The retailer list includes Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Mytheresa, SSENSE, Net-a-Porter, Farfetch, Selfridges, Harrods, and 23 more. We track over 60 luxury brands across 5 categories: bags, shoes, ready-to-wear, accessories, and jewelry. Each scan generates thousands of potential deals. The vast majority are rejected. Visit our How It Works page for a visual overview, or read on for the full technical detail.

Gate 1: Source Authorization

The first gate verifies that the source retailer is authorized. Every retailer in our system has been manually vetted to confirm a direct brand purchasing relationship. We removed resale platforms (The RealReal, Vestiaire Collective, Rebag) in April 2026 and do not track grey market sellers. Learn more about why authorized retail matters in our dedicated guide.

Gate 1 also confirms the product is new merchandise, not consignment, not "pre-owned in excellent condition," and not outlet-exclusive product. If the listing metadata indicates anything other than new, in-season or previous-season mainline inventory, it is rejected.

Gate 2: Price History Validation

This is where most deals get rejected. Gate 2 runs several automated checks against our price history database:

• Original price verification. The listed "original" or "compare at" price is checked against the product's actual selling history. If a retailer claims an item was $2,000 but our records show it was listed at $1,400 for the past three months, the deal is flagged and the discount percentage is recalculated or the deal is rejected entirely.
• Stale markdown detection. If a product has been continuously on sale for more than 3 weeks, it is automatically rejected. Perpetual sales are not deals. They are pricing strategy designed to create a false sense of urgency.
• Minimum discount threshold. Deals below 30% OFF are filtered out. A 10% or 15% markdown on luxury goods is not noteworthy enough to warrant an alert. We surface meaningful price drops only.
• Cross-retailer price comparison. The system checks whether the same product is available at a lower price from another authorized retailer. If it is, that deal takes priority.

Gate 3: Editorial Review and Classification

Deals that pass Gates 1 and 2 enter editorial processing. This gate categorizes the deal, assigns urgency tags, and generates editorial context:

• Category classification. Each deal is tagged with its product category (bags, shoes, ready-to-wear, accessories, jewelry) and sub-category for filtering on the deals page.
• Urgency tags. Deals are classified as flash sale (limited-time event), historical low (cheapest price we have recorded for this product), or low stock (based on available size data). These tags help buyers prioritize.
• Editorial notes. Each deal includes context explaining why it is notable: "First time this bag has been discounted this season," "Lowest price at an authorized retailer," or "Rare markdown on a brand that seldom goes on sale."
• High-value manual review. Items priced above $2,000 receive additional manual review to ensure accuracy before publication.

After Publication: Ongoing Verification

Deals are not published and forgotten. The system re-verifies every active deal every 15 minutes. If a deal expires, goes out of stock, or the price changes, it is automatically updated or removed. Promo codes are checked every 2 hours and surfaced on our promo codes page. This means the deals you see on Archive Luxury are verified as live and accurate at the time you view them.

What Gets Rejected

To give a sense of how selective the pipeline is: for every deal that reaches the site, roughly 8 to 10 are rejected. Common rejection reasons include stale markdowns, inflated original prices, grey market sources, outlet-exclusive products, discounts below the 30% threshold, and out-of-stock items that were briefly re-listed. The goal is not volume. It is signal quality.

Why This Matters for You

Most deal sites optimize for quantity: more deals, more clicks, more affiliate revenue. Archive Luxury optimizes for precision. When we send you an alert, it means a genuine price drop occurred on a genuine product from a genuinely authorized retailer, verified against historical price data, and confirmed as currently in stock. Set up your price alerts with confidence that what reaches your inbox has earned its way there.

For a visual overview of our pipeline, visit the How It Works page. To see verified deals right now, browse the deals page or explore by brand and category.