cut-price

Although fast tech can cost less than a pound, valuable materials can still be locked up in the cut-price gadgets.

But while claiming he was shy, bereaved or recovering from a bad break-up, McDonald was taking money from them to pay for things that never materialised - from cut-price luxury items to house deposits.

The US and the European Union believe this is how China is trying to save its economy - producing cut-price and state-subsidised green technology to sell abroad.

But it was accused of throttling the performance of certain iPhones without telling its customers, and the uproar resulted in Apple offering a cut-price battery replacement to fix the problem.

Obviously, that doesn't help much if you're looking to bag a cut-price Christmas gift in November, but seeing a discount can push you into an impulse buy.