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

Amazon Europe Core Sarl
- Upheld
- Internet (on own site)
- 30 October 2019
An Amazon website ad for Prime was banned for breaking the rules around misleadingness and qualification.
appleiphoneunlock.uk
- Upheld
- Internet (on own site)
- 16 October 2019
A phone repair website quoted misleading prices.
Outfox the Market Ltd
- Upheld
- Internet (social networking)
- 25 September 2019
A Facebook video and associated post advertising Outfox the Market broke the ad rules by misleadingly claiming the company provided the 'cheapest green tariffs in the UK.'
Tesco Stores Ltd t/a Tesco
- Upheld in part
- National press, Television
- 18 September 2019
TV and press basket comparison ads for Tesco were found to be misleading.

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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Help getting it right

Popular advice

Prices: Recommended retail prices (RRPs)

Compulsory costs and charges: Delivery charges

Compulsory costs and charges: VAT

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