Wayfair among firms fined millions for misleading sales tactics

I’ve always suspected that some price tags are more fiction than fact, but a £6 million fine means the regulator caught them red-handed. The specific trick here is using “was” prices that were inflated or never real, so the “now” price looks like a steal. It’s plain lying with a percentage sign.

What I find fascinating is how easily our brains accept a reference point. We see a higher number crossed out and instantly anchor to it, even if that higher number never existed outside a spreadsheet. It’s like the retail version of a false vacuum: the discount looks stable until you poke it with an investigation. I'd want to know if these companies have changed their practices voluntarily or if they’re just paying the fine as a cost of doing misleading business.

The CMA’s move is good, but I wonder about the wider market. If three big names got caught, how many smaller shops are doing the same thing and simply haven't been audited? I'd like to see more routine checks of price histories, not just when someone files a complaint. At the end of the day, a fake sale is a small betrayal of trust, and trust is already a scarce commodity in online shopping.

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