It sucks!

In this sale-happy retail era, there are traps for the unwary. Recently the ACCC copped vacuum cleaner giant, Godfreys, for offering a Nilfisk A100 model for $125.50 in February of last year, and advertising  that this was half its normal price of $249. However it turned out that the model in question was exclusive to Godfreys and had never previously been offered on the Australian market at any price.

Godfreys acknowledged that the half-price representations for the product in circumstances where it had not previously been offered for sale may have been deceptive and in contravention of section 52 the Trade Practices Act 1974. The ACCC accepted court enforceable undertakings from Godfreys that it will: refrain from using comparative price advertising of vacuum cleaners by referring to specific previous prices for goods where those goods have not been readily available from Godfreys prior to the promotion.

"Advertised discounts must be real and not illusory," ACCC chairman, Graeme Samuel, said. "Comparative price advertising is a common practice in a number of industries and the ACCC will not hesitate to act in situations where comparative price advertising is used in such a way that may mislead consumers."  The Trade Practices Act 1974 says that you are only allowed to advertise a price reduction of any item that has been offered at the regular price for a minimum of 40 days prior to the reduction.

Fast forward to the garment retail industry and the big department stores, in particular, should watch out for the wrath of Uncle Graeme. How many times do they offer goods at reductions when those goods have been specifically bought for the promotion and have never seen the light of day at 'regular prices?'

Most of the big stores have specials going all the time and one of the favourite ploys is to advertise a percentage off. If you tell your customers that you have T-shirts for $10 it is not nearly as sexy as being able to say they used to be $20.

Some retailers I spoke to said it was normal practice to call upon suppliers for 'specials' to bolster their offering at sale time which, at present, seems to be most of the time. Many of these items are new to the store and some have been actually made for the sale.

Uncle Graeme doesn't mind sales but when these goods are put out on the floor the accompanying signage has to be truthful. That can be easily tested where a percentage reduction is advertised, but how about the less specific term 'reduced'? If the goods had never been offered for sale previously, how they can be said to be reduced? It would not take very much digging by the ACCC to uncover some naughty stuff, so better be careful with the wording of your next promotion.

For its part, the ACCC must take into account if it sets out to clobber clobber sales, is that 40 days is a long time in fashion. If a style you've bought turns out to be a dog, you've technically got to let it hang there for 40 days before you can say it is reduced by 50 per cent.

The dominating doyen
Sydney designer Wayne Cooper made it to the front page of the 21 June edition of The Sydney Morning Herald in a way that, on the surface, would not have helped his image or his business. In addition to a couple of large pictures of him, one badly out of focus, he was reported as being charged with assaulting his missus. Wayne, of course, protested his innocence.

But, as the Buddhists say, look for the gift. And there it was, given by the hand of two Herald journalists. They said Wayne had been 'hailed as a fashion doyen' Gosh, that's something I didn't know. Maybe I'm a doyen too, and maybe you are. If Wayne is a doyen, Collette Dinnigan must be a supermegadoyen.

The journos also said Wayne's name had 'dominated' the fashion industry for years. I must have been asleep when the domination took place. At best you could say he might have been 'prominent'. And to add a bit of extra shine, they mentioned that his clothes had been worn by Linda Evangelista and Eva Herzigova. Sure they have, on the catwalk. They'd wear mine too if I had the money to hire them for a parade.

I'm not blaming Wayne for any of this. It's just that the media grabs blindly for the superlatives when fashion is in the spotlight.

Sale away
Nectar Boutique in Sydney's Double bay gets this month's prize for an original sale sign: "The Big Mistake Sale" What is not revealed is whether the mistake was in this year's winter buying or opening the shop in the first place.

By Fraser McEwing