Crooks or just marketing?

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Rickles

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#250776 24-May-2019 20:37

Big news here in Australia at the moment -

Online retailer Kogan Australia has been sued by the consumer watchdog for offering fake discounts to its customers.
Key points:
ACCC has sued Kogan for advertising fake discounts
The retailer allegedly raised prices before offering its 'discount'
Kogan denies the regulator's allegations

Kogan is accused of raising prices on more than 600 products, before running a misleading online promotion claiming to offer a "10 per cent discount".
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will argue in the Federal Court that Kogan increased prices by at least 10 per cent immediately before the promotion —

Full article HERE.

lNomNoml

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#2245043 24-May-2019 21:20

Is it any different to what retailers do here?, pbtech and Briscoes come to mind.

networkn

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#2245072 24-May-2019 22:33

lNomNoml:

Is it any different to what retailers do here?, pbtech and Briscoes come to mind.

Or in fact, pretty much every single petrol company in the country given the price increases followed by immediate discounts.

freitasm

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#2245076 24-May-2019 22:44

Crooks. This is not marketing.

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wanakaforever

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#2245087 24-May-2019 23:25

Yeah, this sounds like something that's happened here before and got media coverage on. It's slimy, crooks.

jpoc

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#2245105 25-May-2019 04:46

In much of Europe this would be illegal.

A retailer claiming to be offering a discount price must be able to demonstrate that the item was on sale at the higher price for n days in the last x months. n and x varying from country to country.

I am aware of news reports of stores in the UK being fined significant sums for breaking this.

vexxxboy

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#2245155 25-May-2019 07:47

wanakaforever:

Yeah, this sounds like something that's happened here before and got media coverage on. It's slimy, crooks.

Countdown got caught doing it to it's beer specials

Common sense is not as common as you think.

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wazzageek

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#2245260 25-May-2019 11:30

Perhaps naively, I thought that practice was illegal here?

I vaguely recall Briscoes getting in trouble for it in the late 80s?

sleemanj

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#2245464 25-May-2019 18:38

wazzageek: Perhaps naively, I thought that practice was illegal here?

I vaguely recall Briscoes getting in trouble for it in the late 80s?

It falls under the Fair Trading Act provisions to not "make a false or misleading representation with respect to the price of any goods or services" (section 13).

Exact specifications of when a sale is not a sale are not set out in law I think, but the CC has recommendations of when it is not legitimate

Commerce Commission:

A business that makes these types of discount claims might mislead consumers if:

it does not charge the "usual" price
the 'usual' price is made up only for comparison purposes
the claimed usual price is one of many prices at which the business commonly sells the good or service
the claimed usual price is out of date.
If a business routinely sells products at a promotional price, then the promotional price becomes the usual selling price. It would be misleading for a business to keep claiming it was discounting a price when the discounted price had become the usual selling price.

https://comcom.govt.nz/consumers/dealing-with-typical-situations/buying-goods-and-services/pricing

---
James Sleeman
I sell lots of stuff for electronic enthusiasts...

sbiddle

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#2245467 25-May-2019 18:46

It's very interesting to see TWH owned dodgy retailers such as Noel Leeming and Warehouse Stationary exploit the laws to their benefit. With pricespy offering pricing history you can see how they raise and lower prices so they're compliant with best practice around discounting and don't fall foul of the law.

I lisited a few examples of their dodgy practices for their boxing day sale https://www.geekzone.co.nz/sbiddle/8994

floydbloke

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#2247929 29-May-2019 18:46

I need a new pair of squash shoes.

Tried on a pair of Asics at Rebel Sport last week, good fit, will do the job nicely. Price tag $124.99.

Decided I'll wait until QB weekend to see if they come on sale.

Rebel had 15 % off Asics weekend just gone, could have got them for $106.25

Checked the price again just now, $129.99

Expecting I might get 20% or even 25% off (that price) this coming weekend and I'll still buy them but yeah, this dodgy practice is real.

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

floydbloke

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#2248978 31-May-2019 10:41

floydbloke:

I need a new pair of squash shoes.

Tried on a pair of Asics at Rebel Sport last week, good fit, will do the job nicely. Price tag $124.99.

Decided I'll wait until QB weekend to see if they come on sale.

Rebel had 15 % off Asics weekend just gone, could have got them for $106.25

Checked the price again just now, $129.99

Expecting I might get 20% or even 25% off (that price) this coming weekend and I'll still buy them but yeah, this dodgy practice is real.

Update: 30% off everything sale Fri- Mon, bought them for $91 (after some 'pricing issues' on the website got sorted).

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

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Batman

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#2249044 31-May-2019 11:49

Happens all the time.

I was looking out for the NL famous Easter 20% off Canon sales, and lo and behold, 2 weeks before easter the camera went up in price by 20%, followed by the Easter sale of 20%.