Fake Sales

Cork

Went into a hi-fi store about 2 weeks ago & I saw a hi-fi system reduced from €190 to €144. I tought that was a great reduction.

I had reservations about the speakers & decided not to buy.

I then had second toughts and saw Argos had it at €155.

I doubt that this hi-fi system was ever on sale for €190.

Random

They have to have sold it at that price for some amount of consecutive days in the past 3 months if they advertise it as "reduced from x to y" as far as I know. So I would guess that their price was just pretty high beforehand

whiskeyman

ciaranfo wrote:

They have to have sold it at that price for some amount of consecutive days in the past 3 months if they advertise it as "reduced from x to y" as far as I know. So I would guess that their price was just pretty high beforehand

Just to give exact details, the goods must have been offered at the pre-sale price for at least 28 successive days in the previous three months.

As ciaranfo mentioned, they probably just had it too high.

Be wary of this as it's a common tactic by retailers to raise prices before planned sales so they can "slash" prices and make them look impressive.
Always shop around (high street or internet) and have a guide price in your mind to avoid the trap.

As always... caveat emptor

Litcagral

AFAIK in a large chain of shops they are only required to have it at the higher price in one shop and then they can 'reduce' it in all. This used to be the case onetime but the law may have been updated now.

jimmycrackcorm

It's possible that the hifi sotre actually had stock sitting at the higher price for quite a while having bought it at a higher price. Unless they have price protection form their supplier they could be trying to get rid of it at less than their cost price.

blorg

Tesco are horrendous on this, particularly on their 'half price' wine offers which are almost always fraudulent (the wines can be reasonable offers, but are _never_ half price). For example - the Hardy's Crest sparkling wine was 'half-price' before Christmas at €9.99 (down from 19.99) but now it is 8.99 (€4 off reduced from €13.99 - which is a more believable actual price.)

Some of the wine they have at half price is undrinkable even at €6-7 and the idea that anyone would pay €12-14 is ludicrous in the extreme. Something really should be done about them.

I think they get away with it because they do it specifically only with wines that they never had for sale in the shop before.

MorningStar

In saying that the chain only have to sell it in one store at the intitial price before cutting the price to be legal. I am not 100% on that but pretty sure which is a little bit morally gray.

If that is the case, it's a bloody disgrace.

blorg

Advertising standards don't cover in-store displays, price stickers, offers, etc., I checked! I would have to find an actual ad saying the same in a newspaper. And yes, I have complained to advertising standards about actual ads in the past.

The point about this sparkling wine in particular was that they were claiming it was half price at €9.99 before christmas while the offer after christmas has the RRP at €12.99. And you shouldn't _have_ to read small print, such offers should be straightforward and honest. Enormous text visble from afar saying 'HALF PRICE' with small 4pt print at the bottom saying 'Not _actually_ half price' is not honest or reasonable. Surely this is the point of consumer protection legislation.

Culchie

Apologies, I edited your post instead of quoted Morningstar, I'm such prat:o

Culchie

MorningStar wrote:

In saying that the chain only have to sell it in one store at the intitial price before cutting the price to be legal. I am not 100% on that but pretty sure which is a little bit morally gray.

If that is the case, it's a bloody disgrace

RuggieBear

Culchie wrote:

If that is the case, it's a bloody disgrace

i heard about that too...

i remember reading it on a sale sign in Harvey Nicholls in Manchester...it said something along the lines that the price had been higher in their Kensington High street store in London, so this was now a sale price

(even though that london shop always has much higher prices than normal)

MorningStar

blorg wrote:

Advertising standards don't cover in-store displays, price stickers, offers, etc., I checked! I would have to find an actual ad saying the same in a newspaper. And yes, I have complained to advertising standards about actual ads in the past.

The point about this sparkling wine in particular was that they were claiming it was half price at €9.99 before christmas while the offer after christmas has the RRP at €12.99. And you shouldn't _have_ to read small print, such offers should be straightforward and honest. Enormous text visble from afar saying 'HALF PRICE' with small 4pt print at the bottom saying 'Not _actually_ half price' is not honest or reasonable. Surely this is the point of consumer protection legislation.

I think you might be wrong there. Price stickers are not advertisement here alright but posters and signs saying half price are advertisement AFAIK. THe price sticker is seen as an offer of intention I think. The checkout can correct mistakes by telling you the price is wrong and give you teh choice to buy or not.

Also how do you know RRP of the wine? It sounds like all you know is what they sold it at after you noticed advertised as half price. THe manufacturer specifies RRP and also Suggest Retail Price which can be different and have differnt retail meanings and only one is generally know to a consumer through advertismenet.

It really doesn't matter what is your opinion on small print the phrase buyer beware is the first rule and never goes. The small print actually givces you information such as what half price is based on which means you can decide if you think it is the same as what you would belive is half price. In other words the small print is actually more important than the hlaf price text.

The point is always beware and also don't assume. Be informed and understand how this happens is better than being annoyed for the wrong reason.

gerrycollins

blorg wrote:

Advertising standards don't cover in-store displays, price stickers, offers, etc., I checked! I would have to find an actual ad saying the same in a newspaper. And yes, I have complained to advertising standards about actual ads in the past.

The point about this sparkling wine in particular was that they were claiming it was half price at €9.99 before christmas while the offer after christmas has the RRP at €12.99. And you shouldn't _have_ to read small print, such offers should be straightforward and honest. Enormous text visble from afar saying 'HALF PRICE' with small 4pt print at the bottom saying 'Not _actually_ half price' is not honest or reasonable. Surely this is the point of consumer protection legislation.

correct on the first point but the office of consumers affairs covers in store pricing but only the price ticket not the large signs they are still covered by advertising standards

on the the second point you say the wine was on "offer" after xmas what was the offer.judging by €9.99 been half price full price would be €19.99 so €12.99 would be "save 33%" approx!!
why do u think the "half price" was so big?it got ur attention also was there other products on the sign display,when this is the case once the small print is correct the sign is legal and its up to the buyer to acknowledge that some wines may not be at the top offer and thats why the small print is there