Published 2026-05-21 by James Maxwell

Across eight popular UK products, the gap between the cheapest and most expensive retailer we track adds up to £1,638. That is not a theoretical figure or a comparison between different models. It is the cumulative spread between the cheapest and most expensive retailer stocking the identical SKU, based on Shopping.co.uk price tracking data collected in May 2026. The Samsung Galaxy A56 5G alone accounts for £340 of that total.

The short answer: because retailer price gaps have widened sharply on popular electronics and appliances, and most shoppers still default to the first result they see. Per Shopping.co.uk price tracking data across 17 UK retailers, the same Samsung Galaxy A56 5G in 128 GB Grey is listed at £260 at the cheapest retailer and £600 at the most expensive. That is the same phone, same colour, same storage. The cheapest price is less than half the most expensive.

This is the pattern that prompted our analysis. When a single product has a £340 spread across retailers actively selling it right now, the question is not whether it pays to compare prices. It’s how much you’re leaving on the table by not doing it.

The eight products below are not obscure items. They are mainstream purchases that UK shoppers make regularly, which is exactly why the spreads matter.

All figures per Shopping.co.uk price tracking data, May 2026.

The Galaxy A56 is the standout case. A £340 spread on a mid-range Android phone is extraordinary. The Apple Watch Series 11 comes close in percentage terms: the most expensive retailer we track charges 81% more than the cheapest for the exact same 42mm Grey watch. The Dyson V15 has the smallest percentage gap at 25%, but £130 is still a significant sum on a single appliance purchase.

The AirPods Max spread is worth examining separately. Apple’s premium over-ear headphones rarely go on promotion, so this £265 gap is not driven by one retailer running a flash sale. It reflects genuine differences in retailer pricing strategy, per Shopping.co.uk price tracking data. At £369.50, the cheapest retailer we track undercuts the most expensive by more than a third.

There is also a trap worth flagging that we excluded from the £1,638 total. The Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max 256 GB shows a spread from £29 to £1,199 in our data. We left it out because that £29 floor is a contract or part-exchange price, not a like-for-like cash comparison. Add up 24 months of contract payments and that £29 entry point looks very different. The principle applies to any phone sold on contract: always calculate the total cost of ownership before comparing it to a SIM-free price.

Samsung Galaxy A56 5G (128 GB Grey): Based on Shopping.co.uk price tracking data at the time of writing, this is available from six retailers: Clove Technology, Gamingkit, Morecoco, OnBuy.com, Computersdeal, and Pcnova. Prices run from £255.88 to £355. Clove Technology is worth checking first — they have a strong track record on Samsung pricing and typically include standard UK warranty coverage. The £99 gap between cheapest and most expensive across these six retailers is itself worth the 30 seconds it takes to compare.

Apple AirPods Max (Midnight): Available from 16 retailers including AO.com, Box.co.uk, Amazon, and Ebay Partner Network, per Shopping.co.uk price tracking data. Range is £369.50 to £634.80. AO.com is a reasonable starting point given their delivery reliability and returns policy.

Apple Watch Series 11 (42mm Grey): Fourteen retailers including AO.com, Amazon, Currys, Ebuyer, and Game UK, with prices from £299 to £540.17. Currys occasionally offers interest-free finance on Apple Watch, which matters if you’re not paying upfront.

KitchenAid Stand Mixer Classic (Black): Six retailers including Amazon, Currys, and Nisbets Plc. Range is £325 to £499. Nisbets is primarily a catering supplier but is openly listed for consumer purchases and has been consistently competitive on KitchenAid pricing in our tracking data.

De’Longhi Magnifica Evo (Black): Thirteen retailers including AO.com, Currys, Debenhams, and B&Q. Range is £329 to £500. Buying direct from De’Longhi is an option in the retailer list, but our tracking data shows third-party retailers frequently undercut the brand’s own site.

Compare prices on Shopping.co.uk across all six UK retailers currently stocking the Galaxy A56 5G.

For more, read our best wireless earbuds guide.

For more, read our Dyson V16 vs V15 comparison.

The value question here is not about individual products. It is about whether you are paying a fair price for whichever product you choose. Four rules guide how our price comparison desk approaches this.

Compare on the exact same SKU. A £400 saving sometimes disappears when you realise the cheaper listing is a different storage tier or an older generation. The figures in this article are all like-for-like: same model, same colour, same capacity, per Shopping.co.uk price tracking data.

Default to the lowest current price across at least three UK retailers. Amazon and Currys are not automatically cheapest. Our tracking data routinely shows smaller retailers winning on price for premium items. Clove Technology on the Galaxy A56 and Nisbets on the KitchenAid are both examples of this in the data above.

Treat “was” prices with scepticism. A price cut verifiable against tracked price history is real. One that appeared three days before a sale started is not. Shopping.co.uk tracks price history over time, which gives you a baseline the product page itself cannot.

Separate contract prices from SIM-free prices before you compare anything. As the iPhone 17 Pro Max example shows, a £29 contract price and a £1,199 SIM-free price are not competing offers. They are different purchasing structures that need different maths.

The De’Longhi Magnifica Evo illustrates the value point well. At £329, the cheapest retailer we track prices it at roughly a third less than the most expensive (£500). Both are selling the identical bean-to-cup machine. The £171 you save at the cheaper retailer buys a reasonable supply of coffee beans or, frankly, a chunk of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones at their lowest tracked price of £269.

For more, read our best noise-cancelling headphones guide.

For more, read our Apple Watch Series 11 review.

At £255.88 from the cheapest of the six retailers we track, the Samsung Galaxy A56 5G is priced competitively for a 2025 mid-range phone with a 50 MP camera and five years of OS support confirmed by Samsung, but the £99 spread across those six retailers alone shows that accepting the first price you find is costly.

Best place to buy: Clove Technology, currently the cheapest in our tracking data at £255.88 with a solid UK warranty and reliable dispatch on Samsung hardware.

**vs. the previous model:** The Galaxy A55 has dropped to around £200 at several UK retailers since the A56 launched, making it a real alternative if camera upgrades are not your priority; the A56’s improved chipset and brighter display are worth the premium for most buyers, but not at £355.

Our take: Buy the A56 now from Clove Technology at £255.88, but run every other purchase in this article through Shopping.co.uk first, because the £1,638 cumulative gap in our data proves the research pays for itself many times over.

How did Shopping.co.uk calculate the £1,638 figure?
We added up the spread between the cheapest and most expensive retailer we track for each of the eight products listed. It is a cumulative absolute figure, not an average. Most shoppers will not buy all eight items, and many will land somewhere between the floor and ceiling price on any single purchase, but the figure illustrates the scale of retailer pricing variation on common UK products, per Shopping.co.uk price tracking data, May 2026.

Are all these retailers selling genuine UK stock?
All retailers listed in this article are active in Shopping.co.uk’s UK price tracking catalogue at the time of writing. We do not verify individual retailer warranty terms, so check returns policies and warranty coverage before purchasing, particularly from smaller or marketplace-based retailers.

Should I always buy from the cheapest retailer?
Price is one factor. Delivery speed, returns policy, and warranty support are others. Our tracking data gives you the price floor, what you do with that information depends on your priorities. A £20 saving is less compelling if the retailer has a slow returns process for a faulty item.

What about cashback sites?
Cashback through services like TopCashback or Quidco can reduce the effective price further, but rates change frequently and cashback is not guaranteed until it clears. Use it as a bonus on top of finding the lowest base price, not as a substitute for comparing prices first.

For more, read our Prime Day forward-look.