Was and now prices in the UK: when a saving is genuine, and when the ASA says it is a fiction
The direct answer
Under CAP Code rule 3.39, a UK savings claim must avoid misleading by falsely claiming a price advantage, and any reference price, whether a crossed out was price, an amount saved or a percentage off, must be a genuine established usual selling price. The ASA assesses recency and duration (the higher price should be the most recent price and charged for longer than the promotional price), pricing history (it expects at least three months, including any intervening prices), sales data (significant sales at the higher price, or a realistic selling price) and sales channel (the reference price must apply to the channel where the saving is offered). RRPs must sit close to the price at which a product is generally sold. Up to and from claims need a significant proportion of items at the maximum saving, spread across price ranges; the ASA treats under 10% as insufficient. Introductory offers must be described as such rather than shown as a discount from a future price. Since April 2025 the CMA can also fine a business up to 10% of turnover for misleading pricing practices.
Five conclusions
The argument, compressed.
- A was price, an amount saved or a percentage off all claim that the higher figure is the usual selling price.
- The higher price should be the most recent price and charged for longer than the sale price; prices that alternate month by month fail.
- The ASA expects at least three months of pricing history and evidence of real sales at the higher price.
- Up to and from need a significant proportion of items at the maximum saving, spread across price ranges; under 10% fails.
- A new product launched below its intended price is an introductory offer, never a discount from a crossed out future price.
Working framework · 5 decisions
The genuine saving check
Five checks before a was price, a percentage or an up to goes live.
Decision 01 / 05
History
Pull three months of pricing for the product and the channel. The higher price was the most recent and lasted longer than the sale will.
What a crossed out price claims
CAP's advice treats every reference price as a claim that the product usually sells at that figure. Rule 3.39 requires that savings claims avoid falsely claiming a price advantage, and the ASA reads 60% off as a genuine saving against the price at which the product is generally sold; Swytch Technology failed in 2023 because it could show no sales at the implied reference price. Marketers are responsible for the prices in their ads even where a third party seller set them or a human error produced them, as 2026 rulings against DBZ Marketplace and Very confirmed.
The ASA weighs four things: recency and duration, pricing history, sales data, and sales channel.
The short version
The higher price has to be the price people actually paid, recently, for longer than the sale, in the same channel.
Recency, history and sales
The higher price should be the most recent price available and charged for longer than the promotional price. Rosee Fine Jewellery's £129.87 full price failed because the necklace had sold for under £25 throughout the previous year (2018). Oak Furniture Superstore's £999 was price failed because the bed sat at £699 for months after three weeks at the higher figure, which made £699 the usual price (2024). Rotation fails too: Dormeo's mattress alternated between £399 and £199 month by month, roughly half the year at each, so neither was established (2021), and Simba's 51 days at each price fell the same way (2024).
The ASA expects at least three months of pricing history, including intervening prices, and may treat a claim as misleading without it (John Lewis, 2026). It also looks at sales: Carpetright ranges with no sales at the undiscounted price failed (2023), and Simba's 35, 44, 46 and 2 sales at the higher price against more than a thousand at the lower price were insufficient (2024). Boots passed in 2026 because a candle set sold at £60 for 54 days, dropped to £29.50 for 41, then returned to £60, with data showing full price sales continued.
Up to, from and RRP
For up to and from claims CAP points to the CTSI pricing practices guidance: a significant proportion of sale items must carry the maximum saving and the claim must give a true overall picture. Under 10% is unlikely to pass. MyProtein's up to 60% off with 8% of items at that level failed (2017), as did Better Bathrooms' up to 70% off at 8.63%, concentrated in cheaper lines (2017). Haven's four nights from £55 failed with a single break at the price (2025). Debenhams showed three products beside up to 60% off while only one was reduced (2024). Where two claims share a layout, Secret Escapes' up to 46% off next to from £135 was read as linked, and the discount had been inflated by adding the value of extras to the room price (2025).
An RRP should sit close to the price at which the product is generally sold across the market; a manufacturer's recommendation alone proves little. And a product sold for the first time at a low price is an introductory offer: showing a crossed out intended future price implies a usual selling price that never existed.
- Works: "Was £60, now £29.50" with 54 days and real sales at £60 behind it.
- Works: "Introductory price £89 until 30 November, then £120."
- Fails: "Half price" on a product that alternates between two prices every month.
- Fails: "Up to 70% off" where 8% of items reach 70%, all at the cheap end of the range.
What a permanent sale does to a brand
The rulings describe a pattern as much as a rule: products that live on sale, with a higher price displayed to make the lower one look generous. Customers learn the pattern faster than regulators do, and once they have, the was price becomes the brand's least believed sentence.
A business that holds its price, and discounts rarely and for a stated reason, keeps the meaning of both numbers. That is pricing as part of positioning: the price says what the thing is worth, and the sale says something is happening, rather than that nothing is ever worth the first number.
Before you use it
Questions that can change the recommendation.
How long must a product sell at the higher price before I can show a was price?
CAP sets no fixed period. The higher price should be the most recent price and charged for longer than the promotional price, the ASA expects at least three months of pricing history, and it looks for real sales at the higher price. Prices that alternate for roughly equal periods fail.
Can I say up to 50% off if only a few items are reduced by that much?
A significant proportion of the items must carry the maximum saving, spread across price ranges. The ASA treats under 10% as insufficient and has ruled against claims at 8% and 8.63%.
Can I use the manufacturer's RRP as my reference price?
Only where the RRP sits close to the price at which the product is generally sold across the market. Rule 3.39 says quoted RRPs should differ little from the general selling price, and a manufacturer's recommendation alone is insufficient.
How do I launch a new product at a lower price?
Call it an introductory offer and say when it ends and what the price will be afterwards. A crossed out future price implies an established usual selling price that the product has never had.
What does brand strategy cost in the UK?
At Branding Tatva the Foundation engagement starts at £1,950 for UK clients. Its published scope includes discovery and positioning, audience definition, a core visual identity, starter brand guidelines and launch messaging direction. Review of specific price promotions is outside the scope.
Research record
What this guide draws from.
Each source note describes what the reference supports. Platform guidance, research findings and Branding Tatva's practical suggestions have different scopes.
- Promotional savings claims
Committee of Advertising Practice
AdviceOnline updated 6 October 2026. Rule 3.39 and the Swytch, Rosee, Oak Furniture Superstore, Dormeo, Simba, Carpetright, Boots, John Lewis, MyProtein, Better Bathrooms, Haven, Debenhams and Secret Escapes rulings.
- What businesses need to know about unfair commercial practices
Competition and Markets Authority
Fines of up to 10% of worldwide turnover under the regime in force from 6 April 2025.
