Can it be argued that another local retailer's price tag on an item is an advertised price?
Full Question:
Answer:
Advertising is the act or practice of attracting public notice and attention. It includes all forms of public announcement that are intended to aid directly or indirectly in the furtherance or promulgation of an idea, or in directing attention to a business, commodity, service or entertainment.
Advertising as a business may be subject to reasonable regulations. The right to engage in any lawful private business or occupation includes the right to advertise it, and this right to advertise one's commodities or services is a valuable property right. Regulations exist governing deceptive or unfair advertising, trademark infringement, unfair competition, and use of endorsements.
Many states have laws against false advertising, which vary by state. The main federal laws governing false advertising are the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act and the Lanham Act. Under the FTC Act, false advertising includes advertisements that make representations that the advertiser has no reasonable basis to believe, even if the representations turn out to be true. Only the Federal Trade Commission can enforce the FTC Act.
Private parties, such as consumers or competitors, can file a complaint for false advertising under the Lanham Act. To establish a violation under the Lanham Act, consumers and competitors must prove the following:
(1) the advertiser made false statements of fact about its product;
(2) the false advertisements actually deceived or had the capacity to deceive a substantial segment of the target population;
(3) the deception was material;
(4) the falsely advertised product was sold in interstate commerce; and
(5) the party bringing the lawsuit (plaintiff) was injured as a result of the deception. Injury is construed as a likelihood of injury, rather than actual injury.The list price is the price tag put on a house in a real estate listing; it usually is only an estimate of what the seller would like to get for the property. The sales price is the amount a property actually sells for. It may be the same as the listing price, or higher or lower, depending on how accurately the property was originally priced and on market conditions. http://www.hoeftrj.net
The list price is a seller's advertised price, a figure that usually is only a rough estimate of what the seller wants to get. Sellers can price high, low or close to what they hope to get. To judge whether the list price is a fair one, be sure to consult comparable sales prices in the area.http://www.hoeftrj.net
The sales price is the amount of money you as a buyer would pay for a property. http://www.hoeftrj.net
The appraisal value is a certified appraiser's estimate of the worth of a property, and is based on comparable sales, the condition of the property and numerous other factors. http://www.hoeftrj.net
The following comes from 54A Am. Jur. 2d Monopolies and Restraints of Trade § 1194.
Misrepresentations of a product's regular and customary price are unfair and deceptive practices under the statutory prohibition even though it is obvious to the sophisticated that the price tag is only a come-on and even though the buyer gets his or her money's worth. Thus, for example, violations occurred where?
An appliance's regular price is advertised at $29.95 or $39.95, when its regular selling price is $6.95 to $8.95.
A product is advertised at $11, regularly $16.50, where the $11 product was never sold at $16.50, even though the differences between the $11 product and the $16.50 product are inconsequential.
It was advertised that a department store's carpeting, offered at $10.95 per square yard, was "regularly" and "usually" sold at between $15.95 and $16.95 per square yard, where it had never before offered such carpeting for sale, even though the normal recently prevailing price of such carpeting at other retail stores in the same city was between $15.95 and $16.95 per square yard.
It is an unfair trade practice for a seller to represent that the price at which he or she regularly sells his or her products is a special, reduced, or discounted price, or is a special price to a special class of purchasers, or is a special price as part of an introductory offer or any other sales promotion program, or affords any savings to the purchaser. It is a violation to misrepresent a product's regular price as a "special" price, "half price, or "cost."
Under the FTC's Guides Against Deceptive Pricing, it is an unfair trade practice to represent that the price of a product or service has been reduced from what is in fact a fictitious price to represent that a price is a reduced or a special price when it is in fact the regular selling price of the product; to represent that a price is a wholesale or factory price when such is not the fact; or to make false or misleading price comparisons, or otherwise falsely or deceptively to represent the past or current price of a product or service.
