Dynamic Accident Lawyers: Vince Outlet Stores In California Facing Scrutiny Over Pricing

Vince A lot of high-end retail stores run secondary chains of “outlet” stores that purport to sell merchandise left over from the primary chain’s retail stores.

Vince Outlet is one example — with dozens of primary Vince stores nationwide, the brand also runs 13 Vince Outlet stores in the United States, four of which are in California.

Many shoppers may still be under the impression that outlet stores stock merchandise that did not sell the first time around at the primary store, offering these passed-over items a season or two later at what are presumed to be a significant discounted price.

The reality is that much of what’s for sale at outlet stores was made and distributed purposely to be sold at outlet stores and was never intended to be sold at a primary retail store. This tactic allows stores to sell lower-quality merchandise under the same brand that shoppers are used to seeing in association with higher-quality merchandise.

Laws Governing Factory Outlet Pricing

Questions over the marketing practices at outlet stores have already gotten Congressional attention. Early in 2014, members of Congress wrote to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requesting an investigation into the marketing practices used by these outlet stores.

While the FTC has not acknowledged actively investigating these practices, the federal agency has published a guide for consumers on how to shop wisely at outlet stores. The agency recommends consumers get familiar with regular retail prices to have a basis for comparison when shopping items with marked-down prices. They also note that lower prices may be an indicator that the item is of a lower quality than may be immediately apparent.

And while some of these items may be priced to give the impression of a substantial discount, sometimes the supposed “sale” price is the only price the item was ever offered at — making the marked “original” price a complete fiction.

The FTC provides guidelines for determining when a particular pricing scheme is false, misleading or deceptive. Under those guidelines, an advertised original price is legitimate if it is “a bona fide price at which the article was offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time.”

While the language doesn’t provide a clear rule, the rationale is understandable — creating the false impression of a discount is a deception, and the purchaser is not getting the bargain they’ve been led to think they’re getting.

Some states pass additional restrictions on this practice to give consumers even more protection. California’s laws have been particularly consumer-friendly and are stricter than the federal guidelines. In California, retailers must offer an item for sale at the “prevailing market price” for three months before advertising that price as the original price.

A class action investigation is now underway to find out if Vince Outlet and other California outlet stores have been offering merchandise tagged with fictional original prices. Fake sale class action lawsuits have already started against other big-name retailers like Kohl’s, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and J.C. Penney, alleging those retailers used phony “original” prices as a deceptive marketing scheme.

Join a Free California Factory Outlet Store Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you purchased clothing from a discount retailer or factory outlet store in California in the last two years, you may be the victim of a false advertising scheme. Some of the retailers being investigated in the potential false advertising class action lawsuit include:

Barney’s New York Outlet
Coach Outlet
Cole Haan Outlet
Levi’s Outlet
Nike Outlet
Northface Outlet
True Religion Outlet
Vince Outlet
Other California outlet stores

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