The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has warned retailers and manufacturers about their use of sales gimmicks such as “buy one, get one free”, or “bogofs”, and “offer ends today”.

The regulator said that these “baiting” techniques could lead customers to make purchases they might not otherwise consider and could, in some cases, be breaking the law.

The OFT is launching a crackdown on these “harmful” pricing practices after publishing a study that confirms that they entice consumers to spend more.

“Drip pricing”, a favourite of the budget airline industry and online retailers where a product is offered at an initial price without add-ons such as tax and credit card fees included, is an area of particular concern.

An all-time high of around 37% of all fast-moving consumer goods are on some sort of promotion or offer as traders attempt to lure cash-conscious customers to the tills in the aftermath of the county’s worst recession in living memory.

The crackdown will focus on online and in-store activity as well as monitoring how retailers and manufacturers market their products in adverts.

John Fingleton, chief executive of the OFT, said: “Pricing practices, used in a transparent and fair manner, can provide consumers with a helpful shortcut to assess whether a particular offer is a good or bad deal. However, our research has highlighted how certain pricing tactics can be used in a misleading way.”

He continued: “Misleading pricing is not only bad for the consumer, it is also bad for competition and creates an uneven playing field between fair-dealing businesses that stick to the spirit of the law and those that push the boundaries too far. We urge all firms to review their pricing practices and to get their houses in order where necessary.”

Tom Ironside, Director of Regulation at the British Retail consortium, said that its members stuck to advertising and pricing guidelines. He said that it is not in businesses’ interest to mislead the public in any way: “Customers aren’t stupid. They make sophisticated judgments about prices and value within stores, between stores and over time, and have all the information they need to do that. Discounts and promotions are part of our highly competitive retail market and customers benefit from them.”

He went on to say that all BRC members abided by current rules and regulations: “They want satisfied customers who come back again and again. They would have nothing to gain from attempts to mislead and any extra legislation or over-enforcement on this issue would therefore be pointless. Enforcement activity should be directed at those who deliberately set out to mislead.”

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