What FTC 16 CFR Part 233 - Guides Against Deceptive Pricing requires
16 CFR Part 233 contains the Federal Trade Commission's Guides Against Deceptive Pricing, enforced under section 5 of the FTC Act (15 USC 45) against unfair or deceptive pricing practices in the advertising and sale of consumer products and services. Section 233.1 governs former price comparisons - the former price compared in advertising must be an actual, bona fide price at which the article was offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time in the recent, regular course of business, honestly and in good faith; fictitious or inflated former prices established solely to enable a subsequent large-reduction claim are prohibited. Section 233.2 governs retail price comparisons and comparable value comparisons - the higher comparison price must be the regular price in the area or a bona fide price for goods of essentially similar quality and comparable value. Section 233.3 governs advertising of retail prices that have been established or suggested by manufacturers or other non-retail distributors - the manufacturer's suggested or list price must be the price at which the goods are regularly sold by a substantial number of principal retailers in the area, not an inflated list price designed to enable apparent reductions. Section 233.4 governs bargain offers based on the purchase of other merchandise (free, half-price, BOGO, 2-for-1) - the price of the article required to be purchased must not have been increased to recover the cost of the article advertised as free or reduced, and the quality must not have been reduced. Section 233.5 covers miscellaneous price comparisons including factory-direct, wholesale, and special sale claims. Violations are pursued under FTC Act section 5 with injunctive relief, consumer redress under section 19, and civil penalties up to USD 51,744 per violation under 16 CFR 1.98 (2025 adjustment).
Pillar: Sales, Marketing & PR · Authority: United States Federal Trade Commission (ecfr.gov); Bureau of Consumer Protection - Division of Advertising Practices · Version: 1.0.0 · Last updated:
Primary source: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-233
SHA-256 integrity: 94387fa5215f5b8ce65e4a45f343e49937e107bd98be61f385bef737e1b0d82f
Primary Citations — 8 traced to source
- 16 CFR Part 233 FTC Guides Against Deceptive Pricing https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-233
- 16 CFR 233.1 former price comparisons https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-233/section-233.1
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