When more than one price is displayed
Sometimes businesses display different prices for the same item. If this happens, even by mistake, the business must either:
- sell the product for the lowest displayed or advertised price, or
- stop selling the item until the incorrect price is corrected.
This does not apply when:
- there are different prices for different regions
- one price is hidden by another price. For example, one price sticker covers another
- a unit price is displayed
- a price is displayed in an overseas currency.
Display of total price
Minimum total cost
Businesses must display the total price of a product or service as a single figure. This price must be the minimum total cost – the lowest amount a customer could pay, including any taxes, duties and unavoidable or pre-selected extra fees.
Example
The total price of an advertised holiday must include GST and airport taxes.
Optional extras that are pre-selected
Optional extras must be included in the total price, if the business pre-selects these options for customers. ‘Pre-selected’ means the business will include these options – and charge for them – unless the customer removes them.
Example
Seat selection for a plane flight is pre-selected by the business and will be charged, unless the customer opts to turn it off. Carbon offsets is not selected by the business and will not be charged unless the customer selects this option. The total price for the flight must include the cost of seat selection as this is pre-selected by the business. It doesn't need to include the cost of carbon offsets.
Optional extras that aren't pre-selected
The total price does not need to include optional charges that have not been pre-selected.
Example
If a business charges delivery fees, but consumers can also choose the option to click and collect for free, the business does not need to include the delivery charges in the prices displayed for its products.
Extra charges that can't be quantified
The total price does not need to include extra charges that can't be quantified (converted into a dollar amount) at the time of stating the price of a product or service.
Example
Holiday serviced apartments provider advertises its rooms as ‘from $117 per night’. The business also charges a $7 per person cleaning fee. Until someone makes a booking, the business doesn’t know how many people will be staying under that booking. As such, the business is unable to calculate the per night charge inclusive of the cleaning fee when making general advertisements of the apartments’ prices.
However, given at least one person would be staying under any booking, the business should include one $7 cleaning fee in the advertised price. As soon as the business becomes aware of how many people are staying under a booking, the business must inform the customer during the booking process of the full total price. The full cleaning fee will be able to be calculated at that point.
Prominence of prices
If a business also displays a price for just one part of a product or service, the total price must be at least as prominent as the partial price.
A prominent single total price is one that is clear and stands out so that it is easily noticed by a consumer.
Example
A business can advertise the cost of a 2-year contract as a per month fee, as long as it advertises just as prominently the total cost of the contract over the 2 years.
Example
A business can display the price of its services without including the cost of the mandatory booking fee it also charges, but only if it also displays the prices inclusive of the mandatory booking fee. The prices inclusive of the booking fee must be displayed just as prominently as the display of the prices without the booking fee included.
Displaying prices to other businesses only
If a business is displaying prices only to other businesses, it doesn’t need to include GST in the total price.
Display of unit prices
Some businesses that sell groceries must show a unit price alongside the total selling price for certain products. Unit pricing helps consumers compare prices and find the best value for money.
See Unit prices for groceries for more information.
Display of surcharges
Card payment surcharges
In general, businesses can charge a surcharge for paying with a credit, debit or prepaid card, but the surcharge must not be more than what it costs the business to use that payment type. There are rules around what businesses can include in calculating these costs.
If there is no way for a consumer to pay without paying a surcharge, the business must include the minimum surcharge payable in the displayed price for its products.
See Card surcharges for more information.
Weekend and public holiday surcharges
Some restaurants and cafes charge a surcharge on certain days – usually weekends or public holidays.
Although this surcharge is unavoidable, they don't need to include this charge in the total price displayed for their products, as an exemption under the law applies to them.
However, if they charge such a surcharge, they must include these words on the menu:
A surcharge of [percentage] applies on [day or days].
These words must be at least as prominent as the most prominent price on the menu.
Alternatively, if the menu does not list prices, the information about the surcharge must be displayed in some other prominent way.
