Dynamic Accident Lawyers: Consumers’ Group Finds Suggestions of Fake Sale Pricing

A study by a consumer advocacy organization suggests some retailers manipulate the prices on merchandise to create a fake sale that makes consumers believe they’re getting a better bargain than they actually are.

The website Consumers’ Checkbook did a study to see if and how certain retailers use fake sale prices on certain items. They found instances in which some supposed sale prices didn’t change over the course of several weeks.

Sears was where Consumers’ Checkbook found what it called the “most egregious always-on-sale pricing practices”. They tracked the prices of nine different Sears items over 44 weeks. During that time, only one of those items was not listed as being on sale at all. Four of the items were marked as being on sale for 40 or more of the 44 weeks.

The reviewers noted that Sears’ sale prices were frequently 40 percent or more off their listed regular price, giving the impression that the sale price is a significant discount. But the reviewers say the same items are available elsewhere for less than Sears’ sale price. The reviewers also found that when Sears sold these sale items at their regular price, they were still marked as being on sale.

At Macy’s, four of the items tracked were marked on sale 70 percent or more of the time. The reviewers also found big differences between Macy’s sale price and the marked regular price, similar to what they found at Sears.

Kohl’s had eight out of nine tracked items marked at sale prices more than half the time. The reviewers said that four of those were marked at sale prices all the time or almost all the time.

The reviewers also found similar pricing strategies at Best Buy, Home Depot and Target, though not with as much frequency as at Sears, Macy’s and Kohl’s.

Consumers’ Checkbook says that in their own opinion some of the pricing strategies they found constitute fake sale prices that are designed to convince purchasers that they’re getting a bargain when in fact they are not. The website says that such strategies run afoul of rules promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission and of several state laws.

Laws and Guidelines Against Fake Sale Prices

The FTC publishes guidelines to help businesses avoid using fake sales and other deceptive pricing. According to these rules, it’s fine for a retailer to advertise an item as being on sale as long as the original price was a real price for which the item was offered to the public for a “reasonably substantial” period of time.

The agency does not have any specific rules for how long a sale may be allowed to run. Some states’ laws do regulate that sort of thing, however. Specifically, many states have laws forbidding retailers from advertising a supposed regular price for which the item was never actually offered for sale.

But despite these consumer-friendly laws, state attorneys general don’t often take action on fake sales. That leaves it up to individual consumers to take matters in their own hands by filing a fake sale lawsuit.

Join a Fake Sale Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you purchased an item on sale at one of the following retailers in California, you may qualify to join a free class action lawsuit investigation:

Best Buy
Kohl’s
Target
Tiger Direct

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