97 - Checkbook Investigation: Sale Prices Are Usually Fake Discounts

Researchers at Consumers’ Checkbook tracked prices at 25 major retailers for six months and found that most of the advertised markdowns were bogus.

It’s now common practice for retailers to deceive theircustomers by displaying crossed-out “regular” or “list” prices, with lower sale prices featured nearby. But the higher “regular” prices are rarely, if ever, what customers pay. Our study found that at most of the stores we surveyed, the products tracked were offered at questionable discounts more than half of the time. And, at many retailers, the fake sales never end.

In this episode, we’ll tell you which retailers were the worst offenders, as well as the few that seem to offer legitimate discounts.

Read Checkbook's full analysis.

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