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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Finarea SA t/a Telediscount
- Upheld
- Internet (on own site)
- 11 January 2017
The home page of www.telediscount.co.uk, an international access number service, featured a box allowing viewers to look up charges per minute to different countries. For calls to Israel, it stated “To landlines 1 pence per minute”.
VistaPrint BV
- Upheld
- Internet (on own site)
- 11 January 2017
A sponsored listing for VistaPrint, a printing company, seen on 25 August 2016, stated “1,000 flyers for only £13.99”.
BravoNext SA t/a lastminute.com
- Upheld
- Internet (on own site)
- 04 January 2017
An ad for a hotel and flight package to New York, seen on www.lastminute.com on 15 September 2016, stated “£569 Price per person Flight + hotel”.
Expedia.com Ltd t/a Expedia
- Not Upheld
- E-mail
- 04 January 2017
Ads for Expedia, seen in September and October 2016, promoted discounted hotel and holiday deals for Expedia members.

a. An email, sent to the Expedia members mailing list, stated “BY INVITE ONLY: SPECIAL MEMBER PRICING You’re Eligible for 50% off”. A “Terms and conditions” link led to text on a separate ...

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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.

Latest news

How to ensure your marketing is tickety-boo!

Adding value to financial compensation ads

Auction guide prices and non-optional fees

Reference pricing

Latest rulings

Finarea SA t/a Telediscount

VistaPrint BV

BravoNext SA t/a lastminute.com

Expedia.com Ltd t/a Expedia

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Compulsory charges: Telecommunications

Promotional marketing: Free

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