We read 128 torch, headlamp, emergency-light and solar-light listings on amazon.in on 28 September 2026, priced Rs. 149 to Rs. 2,598. Twelve state a lumen figure, and they do not belong to the same world: Philips' Rover states 800 lumens at Rs. 798 and Eveready's lantern states 220 at Rs. 359, while a Rs. 999 torch states 1,000,000. Every figure from a named lighting house works out at 0.6 to 1.0 lumens per rupee; every marketplace figure at 4.9 to 1,001. The house brands also show a 40.5% median discount badge against 60.5% - at a lower price - and carry a median 2,688 ratings against 107. Nothing here was measured; these are the listings' own printed claims.
Socks are sold in packs, which is how a shelf hides what it charges. We read AJIO's sock shelf on 28 September 2026 and divided every price by the pack count the listing itself states. The cheapest pair works out at Rs. 17.80 and the dearest at Rs. 149.50 - a factor of 8.4. The discount badge predicts that rate almost perfectly and predicts it backwards: everything above 80% off is Rs. 18 to Rs. 32 a pair, everything below 40% off is Rs. 80 to Rs. 136 a pair. And one stated MRP of Rs. 999 turns up on seven listings covering packs of three, four, five and six - so the same claimed list price is doing duty for twice as many socks.
We read all 36 of AJIO's umbrella listings on 28 September 2026, priced Rs. 299 to Rs. 1,499. Four of them carry the identical printed title 'DESTINIO Windproof Strong Rain Proof Compact & Portable Umbrella' - and sell at Rs. 525, Rs. 750, Rs. 753 and Rs. 1,230. The stated MRPs behind them move independently, so the Rs. 750 tile shows 75% off and the Rs. 753 tile shows 42%. Across the shelf, Decathlon's 11 listings show a 31% median badge against 63% for the other 25 - while costing Rs. 299 more at the median. The cheaper half claims the larger list price. And none of the 36 publishes a rating.
We read both men's sandal shelves on the same morning, 28 September 2026 - 36 listings on AJIO and 32 on Myntra. The median prices are Rs. 717 and Rs. 701, and the median stated MRPs are Rs. 2,199 and Rs. 2,245 - both pairs within 2% of each other. The discount badges, however, read 53.5% and 67%. The badge gap is not a price gap. The difference that should actually decide it: AJIO published no rating at all on any of its 36 listings, while Myntra published one on 27 of 32 at a median of 989 ratings and 4.19 stars. Three brands sell on both, and an El Paso slide is within nine rupees on each shelf while showing 76%, 77% and 81% off.
We read Flipkart's chair shelf on 28 September 2026 - 153 distinct listings from Rs. 2,099 to Rs. 69,990, with 25 seated here. The 68 gaming chairs cost a median Rs. 12,716 against Rs. 4,761 for the 85 office and study chairs - 2.67 times - while carrying a smaller median badge, 49.5% against 64%. And 31 of the 68 gaming chairs publish no rating at all, against four of the 85 office chairs. One chair sells at Rs. 4,749 on three listings that share 1,859 ratings and state three different MRPs, advertised as 81%, 76% and 75% off. Five listings sell at exactly Rs. 13,022 under four seller names, badged 31% to 41%. Two chairs are discounted by one rupee.
We read both bedsheet shelves on the same morning, 28 September 2026 - 68 listings on Flipkart and 49 on Myntra. Flipkart's median price is Rs. 335 and not one of its 68 listings costs more than Rs. 585. Myntra's median is Rs. 681, with 27 of its 49 above that ceiling and five over Rs. 1,000. Both shelves inflate the strike-through: Flipkart's median stated MRP is 5.20 times its price, Myntra's 4.01, and no bedsheet on either site sold at its stated MRP. Only one brand appears on both shelves, so no like-for-like is possible - and Flipkart's apparent five-times feedback advantage shrinks once you notice one rating count sitting on nine separate listings.
We read 203 listings across six of Myntra's non-apparel shelves on 28 September 2026. Home furnishing shows a median discount badge of 62%; men's grooming shows 11.5%. But three of those six medians are not describing a category at all. ARMORO holds 25 of the 32 storage listings - three product names across 25 tiles, seventeen of them at exactly 14% off. The other seven listings have a median badge of 79%. SWASUM holds eleven identical kitchen tiles, all at Rs. 399 and exactly 33% off. And the two shelves a single seller has filled are the two where almost nobody has left a rating: 3 of 32 each, against 28 of 32 on men's innerwear.
