False savings again :(

[JonnyG1982]

First I appreciate the great start to the Black Friday week by OCUK (cracking AMD Vega offers on) and the excitement of offers to come. Im hoping to buy something one way or another, a card, a bundle or even maybe a whole new system.... but i cannot let this one go unnoticed because it simply isn't right. And I've picked up on this today because ive been staring at the Germanium 86 Special Edition for months.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk...-pc-intel-core-i7-8086k-5.0ghz-fs-1cv-og.html

Back in September (02/09/18 to be exact, saved to my pictures) i was viewing the system with 1TB SSD (+£45 or something similar, instead of the 500GB M2) for £2190.95. This came in as "without offers £2667.96" -17% Save £477 = £2,190.96. Sweet price! Really was tempted to buy considering the savings but there was one massive KEY difference, it included the Asus RTX2080 Dual OC (£799 at the pre order price i believe, the same cost as now). Alternatively you could have had the Asus GTX1080ti Strix Build card at the same price (initially) but as i was unsure what the RTX performance would be as there was no benchmarks at the time and with Black Friday a couple of months away I decided to wait.

Over the next couple of months it disappointingly increased in price, not through the actual cost of the system (which remained the same) but because the % "Savings" slowly dropped each week (and by this point if you switched from the default Asus RTX2080OC to Asus GTX1080ti Strix Build stock that would also cost you a bit more) . But it was still a system you could get for around £2300-£2650 I believe with its -14%-12%-10%-8% savings through september/October/early November, as ive been checking weekly.

Now all a sudden it includes the Asus RTX2070 Turbo as default, a card that costs £560. A significantly cheaper card by £240 than the Asus RTX2080OC and the offer quotes "without offers £2731.99" - 21% Save £600.00 = £2,131.99 (switching the M2 to a 1TB SSD as above). How can it cost pretty much the same (£60 less) despite including a £240 cheaper video card & with the savings of -21% rather than -17% as above????

OK so we can argue the I7-8086k is now about £100 more than back in September but that really is it, and that never seemed to impact the price on the previous system (unless thats why the reduced the % savings weekly to cover the additonal cost of it perhaps?)

The price is pretty much the exact same as back in September but the cards have been switched from the Asus RTX2080OC for the inferior Asus RTX2070 Turbo but still claiming the savings based on the superior prior build (actually somehow the RTX2070 "without savings" build cost more, to exaggerate savings?) That aint right!

Im gutted as just saw the system at the price i missed out before with its stonking -22% saving thinking ive got the opportunity for a 2nd time maybe ill bite this time just to notice the sly switch to an inferior card. Poor show!!!!

Ok, the recent price has dropped, it cost less now than it has since pretty much first few weeks of September. So better deal fair enough, great to see, good work.... But ive argue the use of the % drops before where its been unfairly used and this is a definitely a case here. This default system is been advertised using previous prices which would have bagged you a RTX2080 not a RTX2070. So its falsely advertised. I could have summed up this whole thread with like two sentences really

 

[Coolasmoo]

Moral is I guess, you snooze you lose.

 

[andybird123]

Yes there are supposed to be rulesabout calling somethimg a discounted price that it has to be available at the "full" price for a certain amount of time before you can call it a "discount" or "saving", you also can't have the "special" price in place for longer than the reference price. Ocuk constantly flout these rules but I've never seen them pulled up on it by the asa.

 

[Sasahara]

Yes there are supposed to be rulesabout calling somethimg a discounted price that it has to be available at the "full" price for a certain amount of time before you can call it a "discount" or "saving", you also can't have the "special" price in place for longer than the reference price. Ocuk constantly flout these rules but I've never seen them pulled up on it by the asa.

The 28 day rule has been gone for some time now, about 2 years I think.

https://www.businesscompanion.info/...for-Traders-on-Pricing-Practices-Apr-2018.pdf

And they can show savings against RRP or previous prices. So previous prices are ok as long as they genuinely sold units at that price. The chances are they have given the nature of the PC Parts market. They don't need to have been sold for a certain time any more.

 

[andybird123]

The 28 day rule has been gone for some time now, about 2 years I think.

https://www.businesscompanion.info/...for-Traders-on-Pricing-Practices-Apr-2018.pdf

And they can show savings against RRP or previous prices. So previous prices are ok as long as they genuinely sold units at that price. The chances are they have given the nature of the PC Parts market. They don't need to have been sold for a certain time any more.

They still can't be "on sale" permanently e.g. for longer than not "on sale"

 

[KentMan]

Moral of this story is buy it when you first see it at a price you are happy and willing to pay and then immediately forget how much you paid for it to avoid disappointment in the future.

 

[Darujhistan]

Moral of this story is shop around and build your own. Buy parts individually and you'll get a good price on everything.

 

[Sasahara]

They still can't be "on sale" permanently e.g. for longer than not "on sale"

A discount isn't the same as a "Sale"

 

[FoxEye]

A discount isn't the same as a "Sale"

If it's a discount that's applied to all with no action needed to grant it... then yes, it is.

For example, when running a promotion involving a price comparison showing the business’s original price and a discounted price, under the new Guide you will need to be prepared to justify and document the answers to the following questions:

1. How long was the product on sale at the higher price compared to the period for which the price comparison is made?
2. How many, where and what type of outlets will the price comparison be used in compared to those at which the product was on sale at the higher price?
3. How recently was the higher price offered compared to when the price comparison is being made?
4. Where products are only in demand for short periods each year, are you making price comparisons with out-of-season reference prices?
5. Were significant sales made at the higher price prior to the price comparison being made or was there any reasonable expectation that consumers would purchase the product at the higher price?

Note that this article refers to "discounted price" not "sale price".

http://marketinglaw.osborneclarke.c...e-pricing-and-promotions-under-the-spotlight/

 

[Sasahara]

So they need to justify and document the 5 points. There are now no fixed time requirements. It just has to be reasonable and not misleading the consumer.

For a "Sale" to be considered a "Sale" if has to be marketed as a "Sale". They have to use the word "Sale" in the marketing.

A discount isn't the same. If it was a Pre-order discount wouldn't be possible by default. the fact you quoted this

Note that this article refers to "discounted price" not "sale price".

I assume you accept there is a difference?

 

[Vexr]

Good catch by the OP. Swapping out the 2080 for a 2070 just in time for Black Friday is a very sneaky move.

 

[FoxEye]

So they need to justify and document the 5 points. There are now no fixed time requirements. It just has to be reasonable and not misleading the consumer.

For a "Sale" to be considered a "Sale" if has to be marketed as a "Sale". They have to use the word "Sale" in the marketing.

A discount isn't the same. If it was a Pre-order discount wouldn't be possible by default. the fact you quoted this I assume you accept there is a difference?

Do you really think it would be so easy to circumvent the law?

"No it's not a sale, it's a discount."
"No it's not a sale or a discount, it's a promotion."
"No it's not a sale, discount or promotion, it's a time-limited purchase incentivisation scheme."
"No it's not a sale or any of those, we're just really nice and want to give everybody a present."

Honestly if the law was absolutely tied to the word "sale", all of the above would be happening and the law would be a complete joke.