"Sale" prices

simu

My boyfriend buys the Animatrix DVD in the sales at HMV- this is what it says on the price tag:

Sale price: 9.99 euro
Normal price: 24.99 euro

You then peel that price tag off and find another one underneath that says price: 19.99 euro

The same thing was done with other products. Anybody know if this is legal or not? Seems like a blatant lie to me.

sceptre

From the ODCA site:

Previous Prices

As indicated earlier, it is an offence to give a false or misleading indication of the previous price of goods and services. Indications of previous prices are given in a variety of ways viz. "Was €10, Now €5"; "Usual Price €20, Sale Price €15". Such an indication may be given merely by crossing out one price and substituting another e.g. €15, €10. Indeed the Act states that anything likely to be taken as an indication of a previous price indication. Thus, the test of a previous is not what the trader says it means but how consumers are likely to interpret it. However a previous price is indicated, the Act requires in effect that such an indication is accurate. In other words a false price-reduction claim may constitute an offence.

If the Act said no more than this about previous price indications it would be relatively easy for an unscrupulous trader to put up prices for, say five minutes and thereafter to claim that prices have been previously reduced from those obtaining previously. Partly to prevent such evasion, the Act sets out the meaning to be attached to previous-price indications in certain circumstances. Unless the contrary is expressed, an indication of a previous price shall be taken to mean that the goods or services were offered openly in the same place for sale at that previous price for at least twenty-eight successive days in the previous three months. In effect, a trader who advertises a reduction on a previous price may be asked to establish that the goods or services were on sale at that previous price for at least twenty-eight days in the previous three months. When the word "Sale" is used in an advertisement, it is usually understood to mean that the advertiser has reduced the prices in comparison with previous prices.

(emphasis is mine)

simu

Hmm... that's interesting. Thanks for the info!

Big Ears

ya for them to say it was on sale from 24.99 then it would have had to have been that price for 28 days for it to be legal

Ripwave

Originally posted by Big Ears
ya for them to say it was on sale from 24.99 then it would have had to have been that price for 28 days for it to be legal

Any 28 days in the previous 3 months. That gives the shops a fair amount of latitude, unfortunately.