False advertising? Two major retailers, Kohl’s and J.C. Penney, are being accused of misleading bargain-hunting customers – selling products at regular prices, but calling it a sale

According to Mr Zevin, signs that declare 20per cent off, 30per cent off, or even 50per cent off, are not deals at all – in many cases the ‘regular price’ is artificially inflated to produce a false sale price.

The ‘sales’ are simply and ‘advertising scheme’ and a ‘campaign to mislead consumers,’ according to the class action lawsuit against Kohl’s.

‘It induces people to buy those products, and they are just preying on this behavior, and it works,’ said Mr Zevin.

Today looked at sale catalogs of Macy’s and J.C. Penney, and found that in most cases, the ‘sale’ price was actually the manufacturers recommend retail price.

At Macy’s, a Cuisinart food processor had a ‘regular price’ of $139.99 and a ‘sale price’ of $99.99. But Cuisinart’s manufacturer revealed that the ‘regular price’ should be $99.95.

Meanwhile at J.C. Penney, a Dyson vacuum cleaner was listed on sale for $649.99, down from $725. But Dyson’s manufacturer said that $649.99 is its recommended retail price for that product.

Priya Raghubir, a professor of marketing at New York University, believes this sale deception is ‘very widespread,’ and that stores are ‘playing on our emotions’ with sale stickers.

‘You feel smart, you feel happy, you’ve got a great deal, and you feel special because you managed to get this deal,’ she explained. ‘The stores are completely playing on our emotions.’

Although the advertising and marketing of products is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission to prohibit ‘unfair and deceptive acts or practices in commerce,’ the rules are often vague and tough to enforce.

For example, it states that a store’s products must be sold at the regular price for a ‘significant amount of time’ before going on sale; a highly debatable term.

But in California, where the class action
lawsuits against Kohl’s and J.C. Penney are filed, the law states stores must sell items at the ‘prevailing market price’ for at least three months before
putting it on sale.

Jeff Rosen, who exposes deceptive practices in retail, said there are a few things consumers can do to ensure they aren’t getting ripped off during a sale.

‘Before you buy anything, ask the store clerk: “Was this product ever sold at the regular price? And how long has it been on sale? If it’s been on sale for a while, that’s a red flag,”‘ he said.

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It’s worse if companies buy from a manufacturer. Take dreams for instance. They buy the rights to rename a bed in their stores. That way they can charge what they like, discount it down so you think you’re getting a good deal and have no way to check the actual cost and compare elsewhere.

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ChattaboX
,

Portsmouth,
21/6/2013 05:23

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JC Penny’s sucks!

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betty
,

Dallas , Tx,
21/6/2013 05:18

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duh! and another way they are tricking people is to put MSRP on the tags but they wont tell you what their price is, sometimes it’s the same as MSRP and sometimes it’s not. and they keep it at the high MSRP price and then have a sale at 40% off and then it’s back to regular price. They also barely order any of each size so that they will run out of the sizes and you’ll feel rushed to buy the item at MSRP because it will sell out the minute it comes ‘on sale’. All sorts of games and people should be sure to educate their kids.

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lolo
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portland oregon,
21/6/2013 05:13

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A few years ago in the U.S all Super K-Marts shut down the Meats and most dairy sections. A week before final closing they had a 20% off sell. Being a regular buyer there I went and it was easy to see everything was marked up at least 50% then discounted the 20% from there. And this was after all the coolers and freezers were shut off and meats were actually rotting, the stench was almost unbearable. And all so we could feel good paying almost double. WHEW! What some people will do for a buck, seems some would rather rip you off a buck than have a go at making two honestly.

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jimcool
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selma, United States,
21/6/2013 04:25

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I live in a ‘tourist’ town. Two large shops on the edge of town who pay bus trips to include them in their itinerary have permanent sale banners. They get away with this by selling their stock at inflated price in their Edinburgh store. The laws surrounding sale items are ridiculously easy to circumvent.

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usednurse
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Borders, Scotland,
21/6/2013 02:56

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I think most people are aware of this, at least I certainly hope so. We have an ongoing joke in our house about all the Macy’s BIG BLOWOUT SALES, for any kind of occasion, Macy’s hey it’s Monday sale, or the weekend is coming sale, or hey it had been 6 days since out last FINAL clearance sale… lol

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Zee Chen
,

San Francisco,
21/6/2013 02:54

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DUUUUUUUUUUH!!!!!! Who is that stupid not to know this????? Except for that lawyer in the article.
Caveat emptor. Only buy end of season clearance. Period.

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Maggie
,

Atlanta, Georgia, USA,
21/6/2013 02:49

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Anyone who falls for that is an idiot.

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katie
,

new Hampshire USA,
21/6/2013 02:47

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“Bargain hunters beware! How sale prices are not discounts at all as stores mark-up original cost before that ‘20% off’ sticker is slapped on”

this is nothing new. it’s so lame. even the grocery stores resort to trickery, posting regular-priced items in their “sale” ad. I keep strict track of the prices and only buy when they are genuinely priced at the lowest I know that any store ever sells those items for – then I stock up until the next *real* sale.

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dtsrzxkw
,

atlanta, United States,
21/6/2013 02:33

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This is what is called “Macy’s pricing. The original formula was devised by Rowland Hussey Macy, that’s RH Macy of the original department store. He is also credited with the concept of pricing things in a deceptive fashion to make you think you’re spending less; $9.99 sounds more like $9.00 than the $10.00 true price.

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LaChat
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LA, United States,
21/6/2013 02:23

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