Ad description
A website for Groupon, www.groupon.co.uk, seen on 1 January 2025, featured a listing for “Home and Kitchen Mystery Products”. The listing stated “£89.99 [crossed out] £14.99 83% off […] Featuring various items like dog and cat-themed products, gin glass, and spice rack [sic] this mystery box is a delightful surprise for most gift-giving occasions”. Further text under the heading “Fine Print” stated “Original value: Based on online price as sold by jaoyeh.co.uk”.
Issue
The complainant, who understood they received a product worth less than the advertised price, challenged whether the claim “£89.99 [crossed out] £14.99 83% off” was misleading.
Response
Groupon International Ltd said their internal guidelines stated that a reference price should not be used for “mystery product” offers because the prices of the products which could have been included in the promotion varied. They said that due to an internal error, a reference price was included for the promotion in question in contravention of those guidelines. They stated the reference price of £89.99 was not based on the highest priced item, which was worth approximately £200, but acknowledged that it was more than the value of the product that the complainant received. They highlighted that when the error was identified, prior to notification of the ASA’s investigation, they paused the offer.
Jaoyeh Trading Ltd stated they had addressed the error with Groupon, and highlighted to them that recommended retail prices (RRPs) for mystery boxes were misleading as there were a number of potential items a customer could receive. They stated that the promotion included products valued at up to and exceeding £89.99. They provided links to web pages for five different branded kitchenware products that had RRPs ranging from £119.99 to £200, and the quantity of those products available in the offer. They also provided links to 12 other products on the Jaoyeh website that were included in the offer, which had prices ranging from £15.99 to £159.99.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA understood that Groupon was an e-commerce website which offered a range of third-party products and services and that they did not sell their own products. The ad was for a “Home and Kitchen Mystery Products” offer supplied by Jaoyeh Trading and we understood consumers who purchased the item received one random kitchen or homeware product.
The ad stated “£89.99 [crossed out] £14.99 83% off” and “Original value: Based on online price as sold by jaoyeh.co.uk”. We considered consumers were likely to understand from the crossed-out price that the usual selling price of the product they received would be at least £89.99. By purchasing the mystery item for £14.99, consumers would have expected to receive a product which had a usual selling price that was at least £89.99 whilst making the stated saving against that original price.
We acknowledged Jaoyeh Trading’s view that some consumers who purchased the mystery item would have received an item worth more than £89.99. However, we understood that the price £89.99 did not relate to the value of the products included in the offer, and some consumers would have received an item that was worth less than that price. We had also not seen specific pricing information for all of the other items included in the “mystery product” offer, including those mentioned in the ad, or evidence to demonstrate the price at which those items were generally sold. Because we had not seen any evidence that showed that the usual selling price of all the products included in the offer was at least £89.99, and that the price reduction represented a genuine saving for consumers, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.17 (Prices).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Groupon International Ltd and Jaoyeh Trading Ltd to ensure that future price claims did not mislead and that savings claims were made against the usual selling price of the product.
