Section 6-13.2-5 - Price comparison advertisementsIt shall be an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a seller to advertise or make any price comparison:
(1) Based upon a price at which consumer property was sold by the seller unless:(i) The price is a price at which the consumer property was actually sold in substantial quantities by the seller in the last ninety (90) days immediately preceding the date on which the price comparison is stated in the advertisement; or(ii) The price is a price at which the consumer property was actually sold in substantial quantities by the seller during any other period and the advertisement discloses with the price comparison the date, time, or seasonal period when the sales were made.(2) Based upon a price at which the seller has offered for sale but has not sold consumer property unless:(i) The price is the price at which the consumer property was actually offered for sale by the seller for at least four (4) weeks during the last ninety (90) days immediately preceding the date on which the price comparison is stated in the advertisement; or(ii) The price is a price at which the consumer property was actually offered for sale by the seller for at least four (4) weeks during any other ninety-day (90) period and the advertisement clearly discloses the date, time, or seasonal period of that offer.(3) In which the seller represents that the seller is conducting a "sale" unless: (i) The termination date of the "sale" is clearly stated in the advertisement; except that this disclosure shall not apply to "clearance", "closeouts", "permanent markdown", or "special purchases" with limited quantities and are advertised as such; and(ii) The day after the "sale" ends, the consumer property reverts in price to the price charged by the seller for the item before the "sale" began or to a price that is higher than the "sale" price, except for "clearance", "closeout", or "permanent markdown" sales where the item will be reduced in price until it is removed from sale.(4) Referencing a higher price at which consumer property will be offered or sold in the future unless: (i) The advertisement clearly discloses that the price comparison is based upon a future price increase;(ii) The effective date of the future higher price, if more than ninety (90) days after the price comparison is first stated in an advertisement, is clearly disclosed in the advertisement; and(iii) The future higher price increase takes effect on the date disclosed in the advertisement or, if not disclosed in the advertisement, within ninety (90) days after the price comparison is stated in the advertisement, except where compliance becomes impossible because of circumstances beyond the seller's control.(5) Based upon advertised savings of a particular percentage or a range of percentages (e.g., "save thirty percent" or "twenty percent to sixty percent off") unless: (i) The minimum percent reduction is clearly stated in the advertisement in the manner as conspicuously as the maximum percentage reduction, when applicable;(ii) The basis other than a regular price comparison for the advertised percentage reduction is clearly and conspicuously disclosed in the advertisement.(6) Based upon the use of the term "original" or "originally", to fail to disclose that intermediate markdowns have been taken, if that is the case. A seller may use the term "original" or "originally", when offering a reduction from an original price that was the price at which the consumer property was actually offered for sale in the recent, regular course of business. If the comparative price, identified as "original" or "originally", is not also the last, previous selling price, that fact shall be disclosed by stating the last, previous selling price, (e.g., "originally $ 599.95, formerly $ 499.95, now $ 399.95") or indicating "intermediate markdowns taken".R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-13.2-5
Amended by 2014 Pub. Laws, ch. 528,§ 11, eff. 12/31/2014.