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There is a law in the UK that says for a product to count as being on 'sale' (introduced due to the almost legendary state of permament en-sales-ment some UK sh

There is a law in the UK that says for a product to count as being on 'sale' (introduced due to the almost legendary state of permament en-sales-ment some UK shops seemed to inhabit), it must have been for sale at the higher price for a certain minimum amount of time. Therefore on sales fliers you will see little footnotes actually specifying the dates the product was for sale at the higher rate. Of course, one still suspects tomfoolery - the date ranges are suspiciously short, and it doesn't have to be every store in a chain. Tempted to feel sorry for some poor mark in some remote outpost who accidentally paid the higher sacrificial price... I remember my own sad experience with sales, rushing to sign up for a new kitchen before the "Februrary 20% off" sale ended. The sale ended alright - only to be replaced by the "March 30% off" sale. I was a wiser man after that.

imgabe 11y ago
Clearly you should have waited for the 120% off sale in December.
PaulRobinson 11y ago
I work at an e-comm retailer, and we sometimes will have two sales within 28 days of each other. If a product is in both sales, we have to indicate in the second sale it had been on sale within the last 28 days. I found it surprising when this came up, because I don't recall seeing that footnote on any other site, ever. Also, there is a town somewhere in the North of England/South of Scotland where all the big sofa/kitchen retailers never discount their stock. As such, they can claim it's been on sale at full retail value somewhere in the UK for the last 30 days, and other such foolishness. It's silly, really.
DanBC 11y ago
There are two sets of regulation - one under consumer laws about pricing and one about how they can advertise those prices. A retailer can comply with one but breach the other. https://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2016/3/Argos-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_319643.aspx#.Vt10b1T47To https://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2016/3/Argos-Lt...
pjc50 11y ago
Yes, this is another example of the US having terrible consumer protection. This is a good opportunity to remember that http://camelcamelcamel.com/ http://camelcamelcamel.com/ exists, although I can't say I've used it much myself.

imgabe 11y ago

Clearly you should have waited for the 120% off sale in December.

PaulRobinson 11y ago

I work at an e-comm retailer, and we sometimes will have two sales within 28 days of each other. If a product is in both sales, we have to indicate in the second sale it had been on sale within the last 28 days. I found it surprising when this came up, because I don't recall seeing that footnote on any other site, ever. Also, there is a town somewhere in the North of England/South of Scotland where all the big sofa/kitchen retailers never discount their stock. As such, they can claim it's been on sale at full retail value somewhere in the UK for the last 30 days, and other such foolishness. It's silly, really.

DanBC 11y ago

There are two sets of regulation - one under consumer laws about pricing and one about how they can advertise those prices. A retailer can comply with one but breach the other. https://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2016/3/Argos-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_319643.aspx#.Vt10b1T47To https://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2016/3/Argos-Lt...

pjc50 11y ago

Yes, this is another example of the US having terrible consumer protection. This is a good opportunity to remember that http://camelcamelcamel.com/ http://camelcamelcamel.com/ exists, although I can't say I've used it much myself.