2022 will bring an end to fake discounts in Hungary
No more fake discounts from next year. Strict rules will come into force on markdowns in the retail sector from May 2022.
According to MTI, from May 2022, when announcing trade discounts, sellers must always indicate the previous price. This can only be the lowest price within the previous thirty days. This means that shops and webshops can no longer boost discounts by inflating their prices for a short period before sales.
The date from which the new regulations will be implemented is 28 May 2022.
As Napi.hu wrote, the regulations are amended in line with an EU directive to provide consumers with reliable and accurate information. These rules will clarify how traders can indicate the extent of sales in their advertisements. This applies to ads in shop windows, shelves, catalogues, and websites. When announcing a price reduction, sellers must indicate the previous price in forints.
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Details
Boglárka Priskin, an expert in competition law at the Cerha Hempel law firm, announced the following a few months ago:
“The new rules are designed to prevent consumers being misled by artificially inflated “original” prices before sales and then by false percentage discounts.”
She added that when announcing a price reduction, the original price must be indicated in addition to the selling price. The original price is the lowest price in the specified period before the price reduction. This “specified period” is a minimum of 30 days prior to the reduction. In the case of a product that has been on the market for less than 30 days, the minimum is 15 days.
The standard does not apply to perishable products or those with a short shelf life, such as food. Priskin finds it important to note that the new rules only affect the price reduction of products offered for sale.
This means that these regulations do not cover services.
In the New Year, the consumer protection agency is extending its investigation programme to new areas. Fast food outlets, wedding dress shops, and pawnshops, among others, can expect thorough checks.
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Source: MTI, Napi.hu, Világgazdaság
This has been the law in the UK for donkey’s years and for chain stores is easily circumvented. The chain will stock the products in only one store and at the higher price for a few weeks. Then once the 28 days has elapsed they put the item in stock at all the other branches at the ‘discount’ price – the price that they originally intended to sell the item at. That is why most of Black Friday ‘bargains’ are nothing of the sort, it is stock bought in advance to sell at the BF price.