Dodgy pricing tactics on online marketplaces may be breaking the law

They can offer jaw-dropping discounts with prices sometimes just a tiny fraction of the Recommended Retail Price. But how much should you trust the pricing tactics used on some online marketplaces? 

Now a Which? investigation has uncovered dodgy pricing tactics on four online marketplaces by traders that we believe may be breaking the law. 

In particular, we found traders on eBay, Temu and Wayfair using reference prices that appear to be misleading. 

Marketplace RRP concerns

Using Recommended Retail Prices (known as RRPs) to show a saving is a common pricing tactic. Some sellers on all four of the online marketplaces we looked at regularly use RRPs. 

The Advertising Standards Authority says shoppers would understand RRPs to be the price the item is generally sold at – meaning shoppers may think some prices on these online marketplaces are a great deal compared to the ‘normal’ price across the market.

Our researchers analysed the prices of 20 different products sold on each marketplace and found examples where the savings suggested by the higher RRP did not appear genuine.

We found examples where we could find no other online retailers selling at the RRP used by the traders on these marketplaces. Often, the other prices were the same or lower than those found on the online marketplaces.

• Find out more: how to get the best price when shopping online

Are marketplace RRPs genuine?

We looked at 80 products on four major online marketplaces. 

Here’s what we found at each: 

Temu

We checked the prices of 20 popular products from Temu, comparing them with other online retailers to see whether the RRPs used by the traders on Temu matched the price at which they were generally sold across the market.

For 15 of the 20 products, we found no other retailer online selling them at or above the RRP used by the traders on Temu – leading us to question whether those RRPs were genuine. 

eBay

We also checked 20 popular products with RRPs on eBay. Here, we found 12 products that were not available from any other online retailer at or above the RRP used by the traders on eBay.

Wayfair

Of the 20 products we checked on Wayfair, 10 had no other retailers online selling them at or above the RRP.

Amazon Marketplace 

We also looked at Amazon Marketplace, where the issue was found less frequently among the products we looked at. 

We were unable to find another retailer selling at or above the RRP for just one of the 20 products. We understand the product concerned – a vacuum cleaner – met Amazon’s internal bar for a valid RRP, but we're still concerned this was not enough to show the RRP was the ‘generally sold’ price.

Here are some of the worst examples we found across the marketplaces:  

In our view, some of the traders’ uses of RRPs on these online marketplaces could be ‘misleading actions’ under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), as they could mislead people about the value of a product and the savings they could make. 

If the product is available across the market at significantly less than the RRP, the price advantage the comparison suggests isn’t genuine. 

Which? believes there should be stricter enforcement of online traders on these platforms, but the marketplaces themselves could do more to make sure that customers can shop without being misled. 

In the meantime, consumers should be skeptical of large discounts from RRPs.

• Find out more: online marketplaces - what you need to know before you buy

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What did the marketplaces say?

We asked the online marketplaces for comment. 

An eBay spokesperson said: 'eBay has clear policies on pricing practices, including the use of RRP, and requires sellers to ensure price comparisons are accurate, substantiated and not misleading. We are contacting the sellers identified by Which?’s investigation, and will take the appropriate action.'

A spokesperson from Temu said: 'RRPs on Temu are set by the manufacturer and used and provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or merchandise partner. Traders are required to comply with applicable laws and regulations when listing products on our platform.'

Amazon and Wayfair did not provide comments. 

Strengthening the law

Which has 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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