Consumption. Nearly 90% of online promotions are fake: how to spot them?

During this sales period - and not only - beware of discounts that are sometimes not so attractive: nearly 9 out of 10 online promotions are fake, warns UFC-Que Choisir, in a survey published Wednesday. The consumer protection association, which had already sounded the alarm two years ago, has announced this time that it is contacting the European Commission "to alert it to the persistent excesses" of certain online sellers - first and foremost Amazon, Shein, Temu , Asos, Zalando and Cdiscount. "We have repeated this study with the same methodology to show that the phenomenon still exists and that it is urgent to do something about these practices," reports Frithjof Michaelsen, project manager at UFC-Que Choisir.

The association looked at these six major e-commerce platforms over a period from February to April 2025. In total, of the approximately 1,000 advertisements with a crossed-out price examined on these sites, "it emerged that only 15% of the crossed-out prices were real reductions", that is to say calculated on the lowest price practiced in the last 30 days (in accordance with the European Omnibus directive), the association deplores.

Behind these deceptive practices lies a semantic opacity that online sellers exploit, between “reduction prices” and “comparison prices.” “You have to understand the difference: when it’s a reduction, the seller lowers their price. They can display the previous price as a crossed-out price. This practice is regulated by law, which states that the crossed-out price must correspond to the lowest price charged during the 30 days preceding the promotion,” explains Frithjof Michaelsen. “But sellers also have the right to compare their price with another price that they are completely free to choose, such as a manufacturer’s recommended price, which may go back several years to when the product was first put on the market, for example. This comparison is much less interesting for consumers because the price hasn’t dropped.”

The problem is that these comparisons are presented in exactly the same way as discounts that comply with the 30-day rule, in the form of crossed-out prices. This makes it very difficult for consumers to distinguish between the two. "Some sellers simply provide no explanation as to the nature of the crossed-out price displayed. Others bury their definitions in their general terms and conditions of sale. And when an explanation is available, it often relies on internal data from the seller, which cannot be verified by consumers," summarizes UFC-Que Choisir. It's up to potential buyers to be extra vigilant.

“When it says ‘lowest price,’ it’s a real discount. That’s the only indication of a real discount. When it says something else, like ‘recommended price,’ ‘average price,’ ‘original price,’ ‘old price,’ it’s a fake promotion. When consumers see this, they should really compare offers with other sellers to make sure they’re not being ripped off,” recommends Frithjof Michaelsen. Another indicator of a fake promotion: its size. “Real discounts average 11%, while fake promotions average 31%, three times higher. This means that truly great deals are rare. When promotions reach 30, 40, or 50%, they’re most likely fake promotions [or sales, which allow but strictly regulate loss-making sales, editor’s note].” When a deal seems too good to be true, it isn't .

Two years after an initial investigation showing that 96% of crossed-out online prices were fake promotions, UFC-Que Choisir, noting that "retailers have not been sanctioned and the law has not been amended," is therefore relying on the European Union to ensure the integrity of the single market. "We are asking the European Commission, which will propose a new law on online fairness in 2026, to include an outright ban on comparison pricing," announces Frithjof Michaelsen. This will ensure that only genuine discounts calculated on the lowest price charged in the last 30 days remain.