Examples of bad practice

Under Section 43(2) of the Consumer Protection Act 2007, a commercial practice is misleading if it would be likely to cause the average consumer to be deceived or misled in relation to any matter set out in Section 43(3) and to make a transactional decision that the average consumer would not otherwise make.

This includes the provision of false, deceptive or misleading information in relation to the existence or nature of a specific price advantage, including a representation that a product was previously offered at a different price or at a particular price. Where announcing a price reduction, the trader must have actually offered the product for sale at the prior price indicated in that statement.

Furthermore, traders may use other types of practices for promoting price advantages, such as price comparisons, but not in such a way that the average consumer may perceive the comparison as a price reduction. The CCPC has observed traders indicating a recommended retail price in price reduction announcements and presenting this price as having previously applied to the product in question.

Under Section 43(2) of the Consumer Protection Act 2007, a commercial practice is misleading if it would be likely to cause the average consumer to be deceived or misled in relation to any matter set out in Section 43(3) and to make a transactional decision that the average consumer would not otherwise make. This includes the provision of false, deceptive or misleading information in relation to the existence or nature of a specific price advantage.

The CCPC observed that some traders apply a price reduction for an excessively long period of time compared to the period during which the product is sold without a price reduction.

• Price for 2 months = €79.99
• Price reduced to €49.99
• Price unchanged at €49.99 10 months later, price reduction announcement indicates a prior price of €79.99

As per Regulation 4 of S.I. No. 597/2022 – European Union (Requirements to Indicate Product Prices) (Amendment) Regulations 2022, the prior price is the lowest selling price applied to a product in at least the last 30 days before the price of that product is reduced. Where a trader applies consecutive reductions to the selling price of a product as part of a sales campaign, the prior price is the lowest selling price applied to the product in at least the last 30 days before the first price reduction. As such, the prior price remains the same for all successive price reduction announcements during the campaign, provided the price reductions are applied gradually without interruption as part of the same sales campaign.

If a trader intermittently increases the price, each reduction is not without interruption and therefore such reductions are not successive and would be considered part of a different, separate sales campaign. The prior price in these circumstances is therefore the lowest price during at least the past 30 days, including the reduced price during the previous sales campaigns.

• Price from 23 December 2022 to 3 January 2023 = €36
• Price increased to €45 from 4 January to 11 January 2023
• Price reduced back to €36 on 12 January 2023
• Price increased back to €45 from 13 January to 18 January 2023
• Price reduced again to €36 on 19 January 2023
• Price increased again to €45 from 20 January to 25 January 2023
• Price reduced back to €36 on 26 January 2023 with an indicated prior price of €45

As per Regulation 4 of S.I. No. 597/2022 – European Union (Requirements to Indicate Product Prices) (Amendment) Regulations 2022, the prior price is the lowest selling price applied to a product in at least the last 30 days before the price of that product is reduced.

The CCPC observed that traders indicate a reduced selling price in their price reduction announcements which was in fact higher than the prior price i.e. the selling price is higher than the lowest price applied to the product in at least the previous 30 days before the application of the price reduction.

• Price from 25 November 2022 to 6 December 2022 = €629
• Price reduced to €499 from 7 December 2022 to 28 December 2022
• Price increased back to €629 from 29 December 2022 to 3 January 2023
• Price reduced to €599 on 4 January 2023 with an indicated prior price of €629

As per Regulation 4 of S.I. No. 597/2022 – European Union (Requirements to Indicate Product Prices) (Amendment) Regulations 2022, the prior price is the lowest selling price applied to a product in at least the last 30 days before the price of that product is reduced.

If a trader increases the price of a product for a single day before immediately reducing the price back to its previous price, the trader cannot use this briefly increased price as the prior price in its price reduction announcement as this is not the lowest price in at least the previous 30 days before the application of the reduction.

• Price from 4 January to 10 January 2023 = €1019
• Price increased to €1399 on 11 January 2023
• Price immediately reduced to €959 from 12 January to 7 February 2023
• Price increased to €1399 on 8 February 2023
• Price immediately reduced again to €959 on 9 February 2023 with an indicated prior price of €1399

The CCPC has observed that traders frequently did not indicate this prior price in their price reduction announcements i.e. the previous selling price indicated is not the lowest price applied to the product in at least the last 30 days before the price of the product was reduced.

• Price from 23 December 2022 to 24 January 2023 = €1649
• Price increased to €1949 from 25 January 2023 to 8 February 2023
• Price reduced to €1579 on 9 February 2023 with an indicated prior price of €1949 in the price reduction announcement.