Price comparison rules: conditional and introductory offers
Making price comparisons during promotions such as introductory offers, offers that are conditional on factors like quantity and special customer groups.
There are special guidelines to follow when you make price comparisons during introductory offers and other promotional activities.
Introductory offers
When you provide pricing information, you should take care not to:
- call a promotion an 'introductory offer' if you don't intend to offer the same product for sale at a higher price later
- let an offer go on for such a long time that it's misleading to call it 'introductory' - it's best to say when the offer will end and stick to it
- indicate an after-promotion price for an item if you don't intend to offer identical products at that price for a reasonable time - you should clearly explain what you mean if you quote a future price
Comparisons with prices related to different circumstances
The law says that all price comparisons should be fair and reasonable. If you're not comparing like with like, you should give a clear and unambiguous explanation of the differences.
Carefully consider making price comparisons for:
- different quantities - for example, 30 pence each or four for a pound
- goods in a different condition - such as a reduction for seconds
- goods in a different state - such as a lower price for something that needs home assembly
- different availability - for example, a reduction in the price of goods that are normally only available to order
- special groups of customers - such as discounts for pensioners
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