Vacuum manufacturer Sebo has criticised manufacturers who use deceptive tactics to make consumers think they are getting a bargain when purchasing a product at an artificially reduced price.
“Everyone likes a bargain and there is no reason why manufacturers and retailers should not use a sale to sell goods that are genuinely reduced from their normal price,” explained Sebo UK director Justin Binks. “The problem comes when the bargains that you think you are getting are not actual bargains but the result of fabricated price structuring.”
He added: “Strict government guidelines exist relating to sale pricing that attempt to protect you by ensuring price reductions are genuine. The most important point to note is that, broadly speaking, before prices can be reduced in a sale, an item must have been sold at the higher price for at least 28 consecutive days before the sale. In addition, the item must not be offered at the sale price for any longer than it was sold at the higher price.”
However, Sebo believes that some manufacturers are using these guidelines in a deceptive manner.
“While adhering to the basic principles that these guidelines set out, some vacuum cleaner manufacturers do not embrace the underlying spirit,” Justin said. “They instead employ a policy of ‘high-low pricing’ where they purposefully set an item at a high price to give customers the impression that this is the correct price for a product and then, 28 days later, significantly drop the cost and present it as a deal that is too good to miss.
“These tactics are not confined to vacuum cleaner manufacturers but they are rife amongst certain brands.”
Justin added: “In the longer term, the manufacturers who consistently offer high quality products and attempt to sell at a fair price at all times are likely to be the real winners, along with the consumers who realise that a bargain is not necessarily what it appears and quality, ease of use and reliability are worth paying for.”
