Online retailer, Kogan, has been fined $32,400 by the ACCC after the watchdog found the company misled shoppers as part of a Fathers’ Day promotion.

The ACCC says it had reasonable grounds to believe that Kogan had made misleading representations about the price of three computer monitors advertised by Kogan during a Fathers’ Day promotion on its eBay store, in contravention of the Australian Consumer Law.

As part of the Fathers’ Day promotion in 2015, Kogan advertised on its eBay store that consumers would receive a 20 per cent discount on three different computer monitors if purchased between August 24 and 29 2015.

At the beginning of the promotion, Kogan increased the prices of the three computer monitors featured on its eBay store.  Consequently, although consumers received a 20 per cent discount off the newly increased prices, customers only received a 9 per cent discount off the previously advertised prices for each of the three computer monitors.

Shortly after the promotion ended and the 20 per cent discount offer ceased, the advertised prices of the three computer monitors returned to the lower prices offered on Kogan’s eBay store before the promotion commenced.

“It is simply unacceptable for businesses to raise prices before applying a discount in order to give consumers the misleading impression that they are obtaining a larger percentage discount than is actually the case,” ACCC acting chair Dr Michael Schaper said.

“Truth in advertising and consumer issues in the online market place are both current enforcement priorities,” said Dr Schaper.

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