Key takeaways
- Valve sends wishlist sale notifications only for discounts of 20% or more that last over 8 hours and include a game's lowest priced package.
- After an email about a game, Steam holds further emails about it for one to two weeks, longer during seasonal sales, and only verified addresses get them.
- AyeWatch watches a game's public store page and alerts you at a price you write in plain English; paid plans start at $9 a month as of November 2026.
Steam wishlist notifications for sales only fire when a discount is at least 20%, runs longer than 8 hours and covers the game's cheapest package, and each game then sits on a cooldown of one to two weeks. If the sale email you expected never showed up, one of those rules is the likely reason, and if you want an alert at a price you pick, AyeWatch can watch the game's store page for you.
The rules, straight from Valve
Valve documents the system for developers on Steamworks, which makes it easy to debug from the player side:
| Rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Discount of 20% or more | A 10% or 15% cut sends nothing |
| Longer than 8 hours | The discount has to run past 8 hours to count |
| Must include the lowest priced package | A sale on the deluxe edition alone stays silent |
| One to two week cooldown per game | A second, deeper cut soon after the first may never reach you |
| Verified email only | An unverified address gets nothing |
| Sent within a few hours | Busy email periods take longer |
Two smaller details from the same page: one email can bundle several of your games, and if an email is stuck for more than a week, Valve stops trying to send it.
Why your sale email never arrived
Run through these in order:
- Your email is not verified. Valve only sends wishlist mail to verified addresses.
- You opted out. In Steam, click your user name at the top right, open Account Details, then Manage Email Preferences. Alerts can also arrive as a push from the Steam mobile app, and Steam says those mobile notifications can be turned off too.
- The discount was too small or too short. Anything under 20%, or 8 hours or less, does not qualify.
- Only one edition was on sale. If the standard package kept its price, the rule says no email.
- The cooldown ate it. If Steam emailed you about that game in the past week or two, a fresh discount will not trigger another one, and seasonal sales can stretch the wait.
None of this is a bug. It is how Valve documents the system, which is fine for most sales and annoying when the one game you wanted hits a new low a few days after the first email.
A backup alert that uses your number
The wishlist has no target price. It decides for you what counts as a sale. AyeWatch flips that around. You paste the game's public store page, write the condition in plain English, such as "tell me when the base game is under $20" or "any price change at all", and it sends a short summary when the price on the page changes. Push and the in-app feed are on every plan; email, Slack, Discord and webhooks come with paid ones.
It needs the price to be visible without a login, so test the page in a private window first. AyeWatch does not keep a price chart either; for history, SteamDB's game pages have a price table and graph. A free preview needs no card, and paid plans start at $9 a month as of November 2026. The AyeWatch home page shows how a monitor is set up.
When the wishlist is all you need
For most players, most of the time, the wishlist email is fine. If you only buy in big seasonal sales and any discount of 20% or more works for you, leave it on and skip the extra setup. A watcher with your own number pays off for the few games where the exact price matters to you.
Frequently asked questions
Why didn't Steam tell me a wishlisted game was on sale?
The discount may have been under 20%, lasted 8 hours or less, or skipped the cheapest package, or the game was still on its one to two week email cooldown. An unverified email address also blocks the emails.
Where do I change Steam wishlist email settings?
Click your user name at the top right in Steam, choose Account Details, then Manage Email Preferences. Steam says mobile notifications from its app can be turned off as well.
Can I get a Steam alert at a specific price?
Not from the wishlist. AyeWatch can watch the game's store page and alert you when the price drops under the number you set.
Sources
- WishlistsValve, Steamworks Documentation
- Introducing Wishlist NotificationsSteam
- AyeWatch, AI internet monitorAyeWatch
- AyeWatch pricingAyeWatch
- Any website price trackerAyeWatch
- SteamDB FAQSteamDB
