You search for "discount code X", land on the first coupon website, copy a code… and it does not work. Or worse: it half works and you end up buying something you did not want. Most of those codes are not a deliberate lie: they are expired codes that nobody has taken down. These are the signs that tell a good one from a dead one, and how to check it yourself.
1. Is there a verification date… and is it recent?
A code that works today should carry a date for when it was last checked, not just a distant expiry date. If the website does not say when it verified it, assume it has not. We put that date on every offer and explain the process in how we verify.
2. Is the code in plain view, or are you made to "reveal" it?
The "click to see the code" pattern that opens the store in another tab exists for a reason: that website earns a commission for sending you to the store, whether or not the code works. When the code is in plain view, the person publishing it gains nothing by hiding it from you — a sign that they care more about whether it works. It is, literally, why this website exists (seetransparency).
3. Are the conditions complete?
A real code comes with its small print: minimum purchase, whether it is for new customers only, exclusions, end date. If all you see is "20% off" with nothing else, or the website sends you to "check the conditions" somewhere else, be suspicious: either they do not know them, or they would rather you did not read them.
4. Check it yourself in 30 seconds
The definitive test is free: put the product in the store's basket, go as far as the payment step and enter the code before paying. If the discount appears, it is real; if not, it was not. You never need to pay to find out. It is exactly what we do with every code before publishing it.
5. Be wary of "up to 80%"
"Up to" is the word that hides the most. "Up to 80% off" can mean that a single forgotten product has that price and everything else is 5% off. It is not illegal, but it is not what it looks like. Look at the specific discount that applies to what you want to buy, not at the headline.
In short: a recent verification date, a visible code, complete conditions and the checkout test. With those four, nobody sneaks one past you. What we publish on the home page already passes those four filters. Want to see it applied? The pages for ElParking and TomTom show the code in plain view, the date of the last check and the link to the official source.
And if the code looked good but was not applied when you paid, the problem may not be the code:the real reasons a code fails, ordered from most to least frequent.