Public consultation begins on unfair sales tactics
'Half-off' items at supermarkets, meal vouchers that expire quickly - the public is being asked to help define retail cheating as part of new law
Shoppers will benefit from a public consultation that will help define sales tactics that are misleading or induce them to make purchases.
This follows the passage of a law earlier this year to prosecute people who use unfair trade practices.
Terms such as "sale" or "reduced price" should be used with caution, according to the consultation paper put out by the Customs and Excise Department and Communications Authority - the future enforcers of the amended Trade Descriptions Ordinance.
A typical scenario laid out under the proposed guidelines involves a supermarket shopper seeing two price tags on display - the original price and a discounted one. An experienced consumer distrusts the "discount", knowing the "original" price could have been marked up a week ago.
But people who shop less frequently may think it is a bargain.
"If the presentation of prices makes people think it is a big bargain that turns out to be false, such behaviour could constitute a misleading omission," Customs and Excise Commissioner Clement Cheung Wan-ching said.
A price should be quoted as original only if it has been applied to goods or services for at least seven days in a row, the paper says. The document lists examples of the types of action that will be deemed illegal or unscrupulous from the second quarter next year.