| | | JD said "I thought raising the price before putting it on sale was illegal?? Isn’t sears being investigated because of that? " |
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It''s a fuzzy area, based on the concept of an "ordinary" price, determined by one of two factors:
[quote]The ordinary selling price is determined by using one of two tests: either a substantial volume of the product was sold at that price or a higher price, within a reasonable period of time (volume test): or the product was offered for sale, in good faith, for a substantial period of time at that price or a higher price (time test).[/quote]
So whether it''s legal or not depends on the price they are raising it to.
If, for example, a product has been $50 for a while, then it dropped to $40, then it''s raised back to $50 before Black Friday, when it''s dropped down to $40 again, that''s probably legal, because $50 can be reasonably considered the "ordinary price".
But if a product has been $50 for months, and is raised to $60 before being dropped back to $50 for Black Friday, that would be false advertising.
The allegations against Sears are that they are advertising markdowns from prices that never existed as ordinary prices (same as what Target was accused of). It''s probably true, but it''s hard to prove, especially if they are following Target''s "bring in a bunch of crap we never actually sold before" model.
As for Amazon, you''d have to use one of the various price tracker apps out there to find out if they are breaking the rules or not. Prices on Amazon fluctuate regularly if you watch closely, so my guess is they are just being shady, but not actually breaking any rules.
In any case, to be a smart shopper, people need to learn what the actual value of a product is. Don't be fooled by big "30% off" signs - look at the actual price, and don't just jump because it's "on sale".
Edited by pudds, 2017-11-24 08:19:51