In the lead-up to Mother's Day, jewellery advertising has again come under close scrutiny from Australia's consumer protection agencies.
State and territory Offices of Fair Trading and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission are scrutinising advertising and contacting jewellers to test claims that consumers will make savings by paying less than the normal price. The agencies conducted similar monitoring last year.
"The lead-up to Mother's Day is a prime time for jewellery advertising," ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today. "Retailers must ensure that their advertising is accurate.
"The agencies are concentrating on two-price advertising, such as 'was $150/now $100' or $150 $100'."
"Such advertising implies that consumers will save by paying less for an item than they would have paid earlier. But if those savings are not real - for example, if the ‘was’ price was not the usual selling price of the item - such claims are likely to breach fair trading laws.
"Fair trading agencies receive complaints from members of the jewellery industry concerned that savings advertised by their competitors are not real. We want to ensure vibrant competition in the jewellery industry based on considerations including quality, design, service and price. We don't want consumers choosing jewellery because of the size of claimed savings if such savings are misleading.
"As part of the monitoring, the agencies are requesting information from jewellers to support price savings claims made. Responses will be carefully considered to see if any further action is required."
"Two-price advertising has been popular in some sections of the jewellery industry, but appears less prevalent this year than last.
In December 2006 the ACCC commenced court proceedings against two retail jewellery chains, Zamels and Prouds, for alleged two-price advertising conduct.
