Yarrabee Investments Pty Ltd (Yarrabee Investments) carries on the business of selling furniture products, including bedding products, through two retail stores in Victoria under the trading names Leather Lounges Direct and Dekabu Leather. Yarrabee Investments operates websites at www.leatherloungesdirect.com.au and www.lounges.com.au.
In the period from at least 3 April 2009 to at least 14 August 2009, Yarrabee Investments regularly advertised mattress and base products under the banner, Start Dreaming, in the Herald Sun newspaper, using comparative price representations. These representations were in the form of price comparisons such as “Rec.Ret $4989 Now Only $999” and “Rec.Ret $5499 Now Only $1499”. The advertisements included the words “Sale Now On” and “Limited Stock”. Each advertisement was located within the first 15 pages of the Herald Sun newspaper on the date of publication.
The ACCC raised concerns that the recommended retail prices (RRP) asserted by Yarrabee Investments were not genuine prices.
Yarrabee Investments has acknowledged that the representations are likely to be in contravention of sections 52 and 53(e) of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (the Act).
Yarrabee Investments has provided the ACCC with a court enforceable undertaking that it will:
not promote or offer any goods for sale using comparative price representations that refer to a RRP unless the stated RRP is a genuine RRP issued by an independent importer or manufacturer of the goods;
not promote or offer any goods for sale using comparative price representations (other than using RRPs) unless those goods have been offered for sale or sold at the higher price in reasonable quantities for a reasonable amount of time immediately prior to the commencement of the promotion or offer;
ensure that all future advertising and other forms of promotion by Yarrabee Investments complies with Part V of the Act; and
