§1.1 Meaning of ‘price reduction announcement’

Article 6a applies to promotional statements by the seller that it has reduced the price that it charges for the good(s). For example, price reduction could be announced: — in terms of percentage (%), e.g. ‘20 % off’ or specific amount, e.g. ‘EUR 10 off’; — by indicating a new (lower) price together with the indication of the previously applied (higher) price. The previous price can be presented in crossed-out form. E.g. ‘now EUR 50, was EUR 100’ or ‘EUR 50/EUR 100’; — by any other promotional technique such as ‘buy today without paying the VAT’ that tells the consumer that the price reduction is equal to the value of the VAT (not meaning that the VAT is not collected); — presenting the current price as ‘starting’ price or similar and indicating a higher price as the upcoming normal price. Article 6a applies to price reduction announcements both when they concern a specific good(s) in the seller’s offer and when they are made by a general price reduction announcement (see sections 2.2. and 3). Article 6a does not deal with, and does not restrict in any way, price fluctuations and price decreases that do not involve a price reduction announcement. Indeed, Article 6a is aimed at addressing ‘announcements’ of price reduction. Therefore, it does not cover long-term arrangements that allow the consumers to benefit systematically from reduced prices and specific individual price reductions (see section 2.3 on loyalty programmes and personalised price reductions). Article 6a applies regardless of whether the price reduction announcement indicates a measurable price reduction. For instance, announcements such as ‘sales’ price, ‘special offers’ or ‘Black Friday offers’ that create the impression of a price reduction are also subject to Article 6a and the ‘prior’ price has to be indicated for the goods concerned by the announcement (see section 2.2 on general price reduction announcements). By contrast, Article 6a does not apply to general marketing claims that promote the seller’s offer by comparing it with other sellers’ offers without invoking or creating the impression of a price reduction, such as ‘best/lowest prices’. Such statements remain, however, subject to the UCPD (see section 3 on the interplay between the PID and the UCPD). Article 6a also does not apply either to other techniques of promoting price advantages that are not price reductions such as price comparisons and tied (conditional) offers. These other techniques of promoting price advantage continue to be subject to the UCPD (see section 3). As for the notion of ‘price’, Article 6a covers the ‘selling price’ as defined in Article 2 (a) of the PID (7). The PID also requires the indication of the ‘unit price’ as defined in Article 2(b) (8). For goods sold in bulk (e.g. fabrics, construction materials, food) (9) where the selling price cannot be determined until the consumer indicates how much of the good is required ‘only the unit price must be indicated’ under Article 3(3) of the PID. Article 6a applies also to price reduction announcements where, regarding such goods, the price reduction announcement concerns the unit price (10). In these cases, Article 6a applies to the indication of the ‘prior’ unit price. The PID applies to ‘products’, which have to be construed in the context of this Directive as ‘goods’. ‘Goods’ are defined in other provisions of EU consumer law (11) as movable goods. Therefore, the PID, including Article 6a, does not apply to services (12) (including digital services) or to digital content. Article 6a of the PID applies to price reductions announcements in all distribution channels (e.g. brick and mortar shops, online).

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07