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I wonder whether when a business advertises a sale or discount, the displayed original price can be anything, or it has to be the actual price when there is no discount.

Example on Groupon:

enter image description here

or Amazon:

enter image description here

I am mostly interested in the following locations:

  • California, United States
  • Massachusetts, United States
  • Paris, France
  • Seoul, South Korea
Franck Dernoncourt
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  • What do you mean by "actual price"? – user2752467 Jan 30 '16 at 00:12
  • @JustinLardinois The price I circled in red, i.e. list price. – Franck Dernoncourt Jan 30 '16 at 00:22
  • You asked if the "displayed original price" has to be the "actual price." It looks like what you boxed in red is what you're calling the "displayed original price." – user2752467 Jan 30 '16 at 00:27
  • @JustinLardinois I've redone the red box in the first screenshot to make it clearer. There are two prices: price without discount, and price with discount. By "actual price" I mean price without discount. – Franck Dernoncourt Jan 30 '16 at 00:33
  • Can you rephrase the question as well then? It sounds like you're asking if two prices have to be the same, but then saying the two prices you're referring to are the same thing. – user2752467 Jan 30 '16 at 00:37
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    Not sure about the confusion, this seems clear to me. --- "When discount advertising lists an 'original price' in order to reflect the amount of an offered discount, does that 'original price' have to be a legitimate value amount or can it be any value the seller deems applicable?"---- – Scott Jan 30 '16 at 00:42
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    I've seen this happen so many times: a company raises the price of a product before putting it on sale, just to show a greater "discount," when you only save maybe 5 dollars of the real original price. – Zizouz212 Jan 30 '16 at 00:48
  • Jacking the prices up just prior to discounting them can fall under "deceptive practices" federal and state statutes, and have occasionally been prosecuted under such for particularly grievous offenders. – President James K. Polk Jan 30 '16 at 13:06

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