Methodology

The A2 Deal Score.

Every deal on this site gets a score 0 to 100. Here is exactly how we compute it. No secrets, no black box.

The formula

score =
    min(discount%, 100) * 0.35       // discount depth
  + recencyScore       * 0.25       // days since last verified
  + min(upvotes, 100)  * 0.2       // community validation
  + rarityScore        * 0.2       // birthday/limited-time bonus
  - min(flags * 10, 50)                  // reader flags

What the inputs mean

• Discount depth weighs how deep the savings are. A half-price burger beats a buck off beer.
• Recency degrades every day since we last verified. A deal verified today scores near perfect. One verified 200 days ago gets zero.
• Community counts upvotes from readers, capped at 100.
• Rarity rewards limited-time and birthday-only deals (score 80) over always-on ones (score 40).
• Flags subtract 10 points each, capped at 50. A deal with five "did not work" flags loses half its score and moves to the top of our re-check queue.

Why publish the formula

Because you should be able to tell when a rating is a puppet show versus a real signal. Our score is deterministic. Anyone reading this page can reproduce it.

What the score is not

• It is not an overall business quality score. A Michelin-level restaurant and a dive bar can score the same. This is about the deal, not the venue.
• It is not paid-for. Sponsors cannot buy score.
• It is not final. If you think something is off, submit a correction.