If something you want to buy is advertised at the wrong price you may be able to buy it at the lower price. This will however depend on whether you have paid for the item yet or not.
If you haven’t bought it yet and take the item to the till and are told that the tag or label is a mistake you don’t have the right to buy the item at the lower price although you could try asking the seller to honour the price. This would also be the case if you see the item advertised anywhere for a lower price than the one on the price tag.
If you have already bought the item at a lower cost than the seller intended, you do not have to give it back. The seller can only legally ask you for more money if you talked about the price before buying it.
If you realise you have paid more for an item than it was advertised at, ask the shop to refund the difference. It’s important to keep any evidence of the mistake for example a photograph of the advert in the shop window or screen shot online.
It is, however, legal to charge different prices online versus in-store as long as the seller is not misleading so as always, we would advise you to shop around.
It should also be noted that:
- It is an offence to give consumers a misleading price.
- Where goods are offered for sale to consumers, it is a legal requirement for their price to be clearly indicated.
- The pricing information must be clearly legible, unambiguous, easily identifiable and inclusive of VAT and any other taxes.
- By law businesses are not allowed to make an additional charge for consumers paying for goods and services using a personal debit or credit card.
If you need more help contact the Citizen’s Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133 where a trained adviser can give you advice over the phone and this will then be reported to your local Trading Standards department. You can also use an online form
