How to read a sale ad like an editor

Most sale ads are written so the biggest number is the first thing you see and the last thing you check. The habit that separates a good deal from a mediocre one is simple: read the ad the way an editor reads a press release, which means starting with the small type, not the big type. The word 'read' is doing real work here. To read, in the sense Cambridge Dictionary defines it, is to obtain meaning from written words — and a sale ad is engineered so its meaning sits in a different place from its emphasis. The reliable method is a short checklist, applied in the same order every time. Find the qualifier, find the baseline, find the exclusions, and only then decide whether the discount matters to you. None of this requires special tools. It requires slowing down for about ninety seconds on an ad built to be skimmed in five. What is the qualifier, and where is it hiding? A qualifier is any phrase that narrows the promise. 'Up to 60% off' means some items are 60% off and many are not.

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