Price reduction claims
When offering a discounted price, you must inform the consumers of the ‘prior’ price, i.e. the lowest price you applied within at least the past 30 days.
With the new rules, when offering a discount, you must clearly indicate the lowest price applied to the goods concerned within at least 30 days before the discount. The discount, such as a percentage reduction, must be calculated from that previous lowest price.
The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that the reference prices indicated as the basis for the discounts are real. It is no secret that consumers are attracted to discounts. This makes it even more important for price reductions to be transparent. Build consumer trust and loyalty by clearly presenting the discounts.
Time for summer sales! You offer a selection of sunglasses for 50 % off. If the lowest price in the past 30 days was EUR 20, you have to present EUR 20 as the ‘prior’ price from which the 50 % reduction is calculated. The price reduction cannot be calculated from EUR 40 even if that was the last selling price of those sunglasses immediately before the discount.
Read more about this policy and how to apply it in practice in the European Commission Notice: Guidance on the interpretation and application of the Price Indication Directive.