As Mother's Day approaches, jewellery advertising has 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 catalogue advertising and contacting jewellers to test claims that consumers will make savings by paying less than the normal price.
"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 now save by paying less for an item than they would have paid earlier. But if those savings are not real – for example, if the item was never on sale at the 'was' price - such claims are likely to breach fair trading laws.
"Two-price advertising is popular in some sections of the jewellery industry. 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.
"Already a number of jewellers, including larger businesses, have been asked for information about claimed price savings.
"The monitoring follows a period of active education of jewellery industry members of their obligations under fair trading legislation. Last year the ACCC published an industry-specific guideline, Advertising and Promotion in the Jewellery Industry: A Guide to the Trade Practices Act.
"Earlier this year, the ACCC and the Jewellery Industry Association conducted a number of seminars around Australia to help industry participants understand their obligations under fair trading laws".