How we source, measure and verify every spec
The whole point of this site is that the numbers are trustworthy. So here’s exactly where each one comes from, what we measured ourselves, what a manufacturer claims, how often prices refresh, and what to do if you spot something wrong. Every spec on the site is tagged with which of these it is.
Two tags on every number
Nominal width, the spec that decides fit, carries a source tag. We show it right next to the figure, everywhere the figure appears, so you always know whether it is our own measurement or the maker’s claim.
Measured
We measured this one ourselves. A physical sample, measured with calipers, not read off the box. This is the number we stand behind, and where our claim on a manufacturer’s figure gets tested. Tagged independently measured.
Claimed
The manufacturer’s published figure, not yet checked by us. Sourced from the maker’s own site or an Australian retailer’s spec sheet. Useful, but a starting point, because makers round and “nominal width” isn’t standardised. Tagged manufacturer claimed.
We’re working through the catalogue measuring every product, upgrading each figure from claimed to measured as we go. You can always see which is which on the product page.
How we measure a condom
Nominal width
We lay the condom flat, unrolled, and measure the width across at the point the maker specifies as nominal, then double it back to the flat-width convention the industry uses, so our figure is directly comparable to the number on the box. We take three samples from a pack and report the average. Nominal width is the single most important spec on the site, so it’s the first one we measure for any product.
Length
Measured unrolled, base to tip. Length matters less for fit than width does, so it’s a soft tiebreaker in our tools rather than a headline. We leave it blank rather than guess when we haven’t measured a sample and no maker publishes it.
We never fabricate a spec. If we haven’t measured it and can’t source a reliable published figure, the field stays empty. An empty cell tells you the truth; a made-up millimetre doesn’t.
Where claimed specs come from
Until a product has been through our own measurement, its specs come from, in order of preference, the manufacturer’s own Australian product page, then a major Australian retailer’s spec sheet (Chemist Warehouse, Priceline, the maker’s Amazon AU listing). We prefer Australian sources because the same brand often sells a different-width variant overseas under the same name, and a UK or US figure would quietly mislead.
Where sources disagree, or a figure looks physically implausible, we leave the field empty and flag it rather than pick one. Material, shape and pack sizes are read from packaging and maker copy. Everything sourced this way is tagged manufacturer claimed so you always know it hasn’t been through our calipers yet.
How prices are collected
Prices are fetched automatically from retailers’ own data, starting with Amazon Australia through their official Product Advertising API, and posted to the site on a daily schedule. We don’t hand-type prices; a person editing a price by hand is exactly how a “live” table goes stale without anyone noticing.
Every price carries the date it was last checked, shown next to it. The price per condom we sort by is calculated from the pack price and pack size, and validated on the way in, so a price that doesn’t divide cleanly into its pack is rejected rather than displayed. When a product’s cheapest source changes, the “cheapest per unit” ranking recomputes itself; it’s never an editor’s pick.
Retailers we can’t yet price, because we don’t have a data feed or affiliate relationship with them, are shown as plain “available at” labels, with no price and no link, until we do. A label tells you where to look without pretending to a figure we haven’t got.
The historical price record
For price history we don’t rely on memory or on a retailer’s word for what something used to cost. We read old prices off dated captures of Chemist Warehouse and Coles pages in the Internet Archive, which means every historical figure we publish points at a page you can open yourself. That record runs to 1,208 prices across 75 products, going back to 2015, and each figure we publish carries its archived source.
Two things we’d rather say ourselves than have you find out. Coverage is uneven, dense from 2016 to 2020 and thin from 2021 to 2023, which is why we don’t run a single index line across the whole period. And a shelf price includes whatever promotion was on that day, so we record the RRP alongside it and lead with the RRP when we talk about a trend, because a product can sit on sale at both ends of a decade and look like it never moved.
Some buy links earn us a commission. It never changes the price you pay, and it never changes the order of a table, because those are sorted by the data. Full affiliate disclosure →
Verification, safety and corrections
Verified date
Each product shows a verified date, which is the last time a person confirmed its specs against a current sample or source. Specs drift, because makers reformulate, repackage and quietly change widths, so a recent verification date is part of the claim, and we show it rather than bury it.
STI protection
One spec is a safety flag, not a preference. Lambskin (natural membrane) condoms do not protect against STIs, only pregnancy. Anywhere a lambskin product appears, especially alongside latex-free options it superficially resembles, it carries a visible “no STI protection” warning. That’s built into the data, so it can’t be lost in a template.
Found something wrong?
Tell us. If a width reads wrong against a product you’ve measured, a price is stale, or a product’s missing, we want to know, because corrections to the database are the fastest way it gets better. Get in touch →
Where the data stands today
See it in action.
Every product page shows its source tags, its verified date and its live prices. Browse the database and check the provenance yourself.