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Coverage is still narrow. Live prices have been read from 1 of 129 panels (2,182 services). The rest are listed because they are real, reachable operators — not because we have seen their rates. Panels with no synced catalogue show no prices rather than an estimate. How the data is gathered.

PanelCompare

Money and pricing

Loss-leader service

cheapest servicebait pricing

Last updated by The PanelCompare editorial team

Why does loss-leader service matter to a buyer?

This is why a single headline rate is a useless basis for choosing a panel, and why “cheapest” is usually the least reliable claim in the market. A panel can be genuinely cheapest on the one row it advertises and above median on the fifteen rows you actually buy.

The honest alternative is a fixed basket: price the same defined set of services across every panel and compare the baskets. That is far harder to game, because winning requires being cheap across the catalogue rather than cheap in one cell.

How does loss-leader service show up in a price list?

The pattern is visible once you look for it: one or two rows dramatically below every neighbour, on the most commoditised metrics, in categories where price transparency is total.

The related tactic is a low advertised rate that becomes unavailable — “service disabled” — the moment the wallet is funded, which is a bait-and-switch rather than a loss-leader.

Think this definition is wrong?

Terminology in this market is set by the panels that use it, and it moves. If a panel uses loss-leader service to mean something other than what is written here, send us the listing and we will either correct the definition or record the variant. The process is on the about page.