Attorney Ugo Lord Exposes The Hidden Truth of Retail Pricing

A TikTok lawyer has revealed a sneaky trick that some retail stores jack up their original prices to make customers think they are getting a good deal and then offering a “sale” at the normal price.

Ugo Lord, 28, shared his legal knowledge with his 6.7 million followers in response to a video that showed a store promoting a Black Friday deal that was actually the same as the regular price.

Attorney Ugo Lord Explains Misleading Deceptive Retail Pricing

The attorney explained that it is not legal that retail stores jack up their original prices of items just to lower it back to the normal price for a sale.

However, he mentioned: “It’s perfectly legal for a retailer to advertise a Black Friday deal that’s the same price as a regular sale that they’ve had in the past.” 

“It’s still a sale whether you call it Black Friday or not.” he said.

Lord went on to explain by mentioning a law, regulated by the Federal Trade Commission: “You cannot have a temporary increase in prices just to make the customer think it is a discount later on.” he said.

As stated in the Code of Federal Regulations, if that older price was what things regularly cost for a good amount of time, then there is a new lower price, it is a real bargain. On the other hand, “if the former price being advertised is not bona fide but fictitious” just to make the new lower price seem super good, that’s not fair to you as a buyer.

“This makes this store guilty of deceptive pricing.” Lord concluded. 

The key takeaway from this case is to advise buyers to be careful and do their research before buying anything on Black Friday. Also, deceptive pricing is a form of false advertising that can mislead customers and harm competition.

Customers Experience With Stores’ Sneaky Pricing Trick

Lawyer Ugo Lord has over 1m followers on Youtube. Credit: Youtube/@UgoLord

The video has received over 1.9 million views and more than 120,000 likes, with many commenters thanking Lord for his helpful insight. They seemed to have had the same experience with their local retailers. 

“I see this ALL THE TIME! We must be vigilant & take notice of regular prices so we know when & if we’re truly getting a deal. They’ll get cha otherwise.”

“That’s been a common practice for years and they are hoping the word sale triggers the compulsive buyer to buy the item.” one said.

One commenter even stated that this deceptive sale trick not only applies to household appliances but also jewelry.

“Jewelry stores are masters of this. They know how to walk that line where just about everything is on sale just about all the time.”

Another noted that there is a reason for this.

“They do it for a reason, because they never get punished”

“It’s time to start holding these people accountable!” Lord replied.

Some also shared their own experiences of encountering deceptive pricing at different stores.

“I remember this happening when I was a kid. Zayre had an audio cassette that I wanted to buy, but it was too expensive. One day they advertised a 50% off sale on all music so I stopped by.  The sale price was the same as the regular price, they just changed what they said was the original (just like in the video). Eventually they were going out of business and they took this to a ridiculous extreme, at one point trying to say that the cassette was 90% off of its original price of $150!”

Conclusion

Attorney Lord’s breakdown doesn’t just decode deceptive pricing. Also, it equips viewers with legal know-how to discern genuine bargains from cunning marketing strategies, ensuring they’re not hoodwinked by misleading discounts.

Eventually, buyers should always check the price history of an item before buying it. It might be surprising to find out that you’re not getting a deal at all!