Pricing and charges

Helpful information on the advertising rules for the pricing of products and services and additional charges, not including legally required costs such as taxes or VAT.

Our rules state that price statements must relate to the product featured in the ad and not a variation of the make or model, and should not mislead by omission, undue emphasis or distortion. We also advise advertisers to refer to the BIS Pricing Practices Guide when preparing their ads.

Another area of complaint we often see is the recommended retail price (RRP) of a product or service. Ordinarily, even if advertisers can provide documentary evidence that the quoted RRP in the ad was recommended by the manufacturer of the product this might not be enough, and any complaints received may get upheld. We require advertisers to be able to demonstrate the product has actually been sold at the advertised price. If an advertiser is the only seller of a product, and so has set the price themselves, it is unlikely to be acceptable to refer to the price as an RRP.

The advertising rules for the pricing of products also state that advertisers shouldn’t use “from” and “up to” claims to exaggerate the availability of a product at a given price. We apply a rule of thumb that 10% of products or services advertised should be available at the “from” or “up to” price stated in the ad, and we have upheld complaints about companies who were unable to sufficiently prove this.

We have also upheld complaints about ads that don’t make additional charges prominent and clear, such as the price of delivery or processing. If a consumer is able to collect the product themselves, delivery charges are not required in the headline price. Any statements that imply delivery is free including those that say “free delivery on orders over £50” or similar, should be avoided if this offer is not attainable for everyone, i.e. additional charges apply to certain postcodes.

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Latest rulings

Lidl UK GmbH t/a Lidl
- Upheld
- National press
- 08 May 2019
A national press ad seen on 17 January 2019, featured the claims “YOUR MONEY'S WORTH MORE AT LIDL” and "Prices crunched all year round" above a photograph of four branded food products including Cathedral City cheddar cheese. Text below stated “£11.50 at Morrisons” and &ldquo...
DSG Retail Ltd in association w/Reach Plc
- Upheld
- Regional press
- 17 April 2019
The Liverpool Echo website www.liverpoolecho.co.uk, featured what appeared to be an article with the headline “Currys PC World launches its incredible Black Friday 2018 deals with £600 off TVs”. A subheading stated “Products from brands such as Sony, Hotpoint, HP and Nintendo are included”...
Zestify Media Ltd
- Upheld
- Television
- 10 April 2019
A TV ad for Zestify Media, seen on 5 January 2019, showed an epilator with a crossed out 'was' price of £39.99 and a 'now' price of £19.99. Alongside that was a pink circle that featured the claim "SAVE 50%".
Zimplistic Private Ltd t/a Rotimatic
- Upheld
- E-mail, Internet (social networking)
- 10 April 2019
A paid-for Facebook post and email for Rotimatic: a. The post, seen on 23 October 2018, stated “Enjoy the biggest savings on Rotimatic this Diwali! Enjoy 15% off … Hurry”, accompanied by an image of the product and text beside which stated “SAVE £191”. Further text underneath sta...

View all rulings

Pricing and charges

Helpful information on the advertising rules for the pricing of products and services and additional charges, not including legally required costs such as taxes or VAT.

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Latest rulings

Lidl UK GmbH t/a Lidl

DSG Retail Ltd in association w/Reach Plc

Zestify Media Ltd

Zimplistic Private Ltd t/a Rotimatic

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