Jill Cataldo: Unclear pricing leads to promotion confusion - Huntington Herald Dispatch

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DEAR JILL: I would like your opinion on two sales I saw just weeks apart at my store. One week I saw a pair of sandals. Neither the endcap display of sandals nor the sandals themselves had a price on them, only a hang tag with a bar code. I took the sandals to the price scanner and found that they were $23. I purchased the sandals.

Two weeks later, I was at the same store and saw that there was now a sign on the sandal display that said “Buy One Pair, Get Second Pair for $1.” My son had liked the sandals I previously bought, and I thought buying two pairs for $24 would be great. So I picked up an identical pair to the ones I purchased, along with a second pair in the same style but a different color.

When I got to the register, the first pair rang up for $35! Again, they were identical to the pair I previously bought. I opted not to purchase the sandals but took both pairs to the service counter after I was done buying groceries. The clerk said because there was no price on the tag, it was legal for the store to raise the price from $23 to $35, then put them on “sale,” because the price of two pairs was $36. With each pair being $18 after the new sale, they were still selling for less than the $23 price.

What do you think of this practice? Is it false advertising? I find it very deceptive and quite questionable, and it has made me suspicious of any item without a price on the hang tag. — Mike G.

Under the Federal Trade Commission Act, advertising must be “truthful and non-deceptive.” The act also contains provisions for specific types of product claims — does the advertisement promise a product does something that it does not? Does it falsely claim to help a particular medical condition? False advertising practices also refer to pricing claims made in a print or broadcast advertisement.

Without knowing whether or not these sandals’ promotions were ever advertised by the store, it is difficult to determine whether or not they were falsely advertised. However, I do agree that sandals priced at $23 one week and $35 two weeks later with a different sale is confusing.

There is also the possibility that the sandals’ original price actually was $35 and they were part of an unadvertised sale the week that this shopper purchased them for $23. Without a price on the sandals’ tag, it’s really difficult to know.

That said, it’s always frustrating to purchase something and then find out that the price was more attractive a short while later. If the original pair of sandals had not yet been worn, this shopper could have returned them to the store and then purchased two pairs with the new sale.

Or, if the shopper had saved the receipt, he could have also asked to see a manager, presented the receipt and asked if it would be possible to do a return-and-re-buy, returning the original pair (on paper, that is) for $23 and re-buying it for $35 to then purchase a second pair for $1 with the new promotion.

As with any deal, I recommend purchasing when you are satisfied with the price — whatever it is. I think that nearly every shopper has experienced some form of purchase regret at one point or another, especially if there’s been a significant price drop. I’ve often referred to stores’ pricing strategies as “games,” and there’s a lot of truth to that. They play pricing games trying to get us to purchase at a point where their profit is maximized, and we play an opposing game: trying to purchase when the price is lowest for us and our savings are maximized.

It’s always good to be aware of different ways retailers try to reach this goal, and utilizing product tags that don’t actually have a printed price are yet another promotional “tool” to leave shoppers wondering, “What is this item really worth to me?”

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