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Think ‘selling price’ not ‘discount’ when shopping
Posted on 16/12/2009
Community Services
We normally expect price discounts to be in January, but now they seem to be all year round says Leicestershire’s Trading Standards Service. Even in the run up to Christmas there seem to be lots of discount prices being advertised in shops and on the internet. But are the discounts real or do some shops mislead us?
Trading Standards is warning that consumers do have to be careful with ‘Sales’ and discount offers because they may not be as good as they seem. There are genuine reductions, where traders may want to reduce prices for goods that are not selling as well as they like. But unfortunately, there are also traders that artificially create a higher price in order to then claim a discount.
Put simply the law says that price reductions must not be false; this usually means that the previous higher price needs to be for a minimum time of 28 days. So, for example, a Christmas Tree advertised as discounted, could have been offered at the higher price for just 28 days when nobody was buying Christmas Trees in November.
But there is a simple way of not falling for a false discount:
Trading Standards’ advice is to try and forget about the amount of discount and just concentrate on the selling price. Always shop around to compare the actual selling price and check whether it’s a good price in comparison with the same or very similar goods in the shops near you.
That goes for the January sales that are coming up as well. There are plenty of bargains, but think ‘selling price’ and try to ignore the ‘discount’ to make sure that you really do get a bargain.
David Bull Head of Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards said: “Consumers need to look at the selling price rather than the amount of discount and compare it with other selling prices to help find a good deal’
If you want more advice on discounts or to report a possible false price discount contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06
Persons to Contact
Paul Davis 0116 305 6534
Keith Regan 0116 305 6533