La. Admin. Code tit. 16 § III-309
Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024
Section III-309 - Range of Savings or Price Comparison ClaimsA. It is a deceptive act or practice for a seller to state or imply that any merchandise is being offered for sale at a range of prices, or at a range of percentage or fractional discounts, unless the highest price or the lowest discount in the range is clearly and conspicuously disclosed in the advertisement and a reasonable number of the items in the advertisement are offered with the largest advertised discount or the lowest advertised price. If at least 5 percent of the items in the advertisement are offered with the largest advertised discount or the lowest advertised price, a rebuttable presumption exists that a reasonable number were offered with at least the largest advertised discount or the lowest advertised price.B. Any time you advertise a range of savings, as in "all bedroom furniture 10% to 25% off!", you must show both ends of the range in your ad. You can't just show the largest savings available. In addition, you may not exaggerate the savings by offering the biggest discount on only a tiny fraction of sale items. The largest discounts must apply to a reasonable number of the sale items. 1. The rule assumes that a reasonable number of times is at least 5 percent of the items on sale. In other words, if you offer at least 5 percent of the sale items at the largest discount in the range, you don't have to worry about proving that the discount applies to a reasonable number. If we disagree and think that more than 5 percent is necessary to be a reasonable number, it would be up to us to prove it. On the other hand, you are still free to show that some number less than 5 percent of the sale items is a reasonable number. Example:
(Correct) | (Incorrect) |
Sale | Sale |
"Save from 10% to 50% off" | "Save up to 50% off" |
"Save $9 to $29" | "Savings as much as $100" |
2. The two examples labeled as incorrect fail to show the low end of the range of savings or discounts offered in the sale. The correct examples are correct as long as you are offering at least 5 percent of the sale merchandise at 50 percent off, in the first example, and at a $29 savings in the second example.La. Admin. Code tit. 16, § III-309
Promulgated by the Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, LR 21:34 (January 1995).AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 51.1 et seq.