Boots and Oral-B may be misleading shoppers on electric toothbrush pricing

A Which? snapshot investigation has uncovered potentially dodgy pricing tactics at Boots and Oral-B that we believe may be breaching the rules on the advertising of sales promotions, and making shoppers think they are getting a better deal than they are. 

We analysed the price of 21 electric toothbrushes for sale via Oral-B’s online shop and could not find 10 of them for sale anywhere online during our investigation at the claimed RRP. 

One Oral-B toothbrush bundle appeared to be exclusive to Boots and Oral-B, and we didn't find it being sold at the claimed RRP at either retailer or elsewhere online on any of the dates we checked in a two-month period. This potential misuse of RRPs could be misleading consumers into thinking they are getting a better deal than they actually are.

Oral-B potentially misleading shoppers on RRP

As the manufacturer, Oral-B is able to stock a variety of bundles that other retailers may not have access to. These exclusive bundles may include accessories such as charging mats or extra packs of toothbrush heads. 

Our research focused on the price of each product's default offering, so when a toothbrush was available alone as well as with various bundles, we recorded the price of the package automatically selected on the Oral-B website when we clicked a product page.

All of the bundle variations have RRPs attached, which will have been set by Oral-B as the manufacturer. We checked prices online on four dates across two months (23 April-3 June), and found that the bundles we looked at either weren’t available anywhere else online that we could find or were only available at one other retailer, who was selling nowhere near the quoted RRP. 

Although our research did not include bricks and mortar (in person) shops, based on these online searches we believe this could be a breach of 3.39 of the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP) code, which says: ‘Comparisons with recommended retail prices (RRPs) are likely to mislead if the RRP differs significantly from the price at which the product or service is generally sold.’   

During our investigation, we found the following examples on the Oral-B site:

• The iO10 Eclipse Gold Limited Edition Electric Toothbrush (with travel case and four toothbrush heads) had a claimed RRP of £853.99 against a price of £315 (a saving of £538.99). 
• The iO9 toothbrush in aquamarine or rose quartz, plus a travel case and four toothbrush heads, claimed a 61% saving compared to the RRP (RRP of £553.99 compared to £215 actual price).
• The O5 Toothbrush with travel pouch and four toothbrush heads (in matt black and dark green) priced at £115 instead of the RRP of £333.99.

We couldn’t find any of these bundles sold anywhere else during our investigation, so the claimed savings could be largely meaningless.

• Find out more: loyalty cards compared 

Oral-B and Boots potentially misleading on iO5 duo pack

The Oral-B iO5 Black & White Electric Toothbrush Duo Pack had an RRP of £450 (with a claimed £305 saving) on the Boots and Oral-B sites. We checked on eight occasions in two months, and found that it was never for sale at the RRP online at Boots or Oral-B. Instead, it was consistently £145 from both shops until the end of April (when it went up in price to £165 on the Oral-B site), and we couldn’t find it available anywhere else online. 

We also had a look at historical online pricing data for Boots, and found it hadn’t been sold for the RRP at the retailer online since August 2025. We don’t have historical pricing data for Oral-B, but based on our online searches we believe this is an example where both retailers could have broken the CAP code rules around sales promotions. 

We looked at the prices of seven other electric toothbrushes at Boots over a two-month period. All of these were for sale at other retailers at the claimed RRP on at least one date during the investigation, and did not raise concerns for us.

• Find out more: loyalty pricing of health and beauty products

What is an RRP?

Using Recommended Retail Prices (known as RRPs) to show a saving is a common pricing tactic.  

The ASA says shoppers would understand RRPs to be the price the item is generally sold at, and that price comparisons must not mislead by falsely claiming a price advantage.

For our investigation, we only looked at prices found online. We weren't able to compare to bricks and mortar (in-store) prices. 

What do the retailers say?

We shared our findings with Boots and Oral-B. 

A Boots spokesperson told us: 'We know that our customers enjoy making genuine savings on their shopping at Boots, and we strive to deliver great value for money for our customers every day. We are fully committed to making sure that our promotions comply with all relevant laws and guidance, and in line with these guidelines, this promotion shows the saving that customers can make on the recommended retail price, which is set by the supplier.' 

Oral-B told us: 'We acknowledge that the iO5 duo brush wasn’t being sold at the RRP, however, we can confirm that all the other brushes you referenced were.  Multiple retailers have all chosen to sell the 4 count brush heads for these brushes at the RRP. Consequently, many options are available to consumers, and we do not consider that the reference to the RRP is misleading.' 

We asked Oral-B to share with us which retailers were selling the same bundles at RRP, and it declined. 

Strengthening the law

Which? has also been campaigning to strengthen how consumer law deals with misleading pricing tactics. 

We successfully pushed the last government to update the law to stop so-called ‘drip pricing’, where businesses can tempt customers with low prices, then push the price up with extra mandatory charges. 

Now, we’re focusing on making sure firms comply with pricing laws. But ultimately, we need stronger enforcement of consumer law so that businesses are deterred from using unfair pricing tactics in the first place.

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