What a “was” price is actually allowed to be

No fixed window, and that surprises people

Across the Channel the rule is arithmetic: since the Omnibus directive, an announced reduction in the EU has to state the lowest price applied in the previous thirty days. A shop either did or did not.

The UK does not set a window like that. A “was” price is not measured against a fixed number of days.

What it is measured against

The expectation is that a “was” price is one the shop genuinely charged, and charged recently enough for the comparison to mean something to a shopper standing in front of it today.

• Genuinely charged. Available to buy at that price, not a figure printed to be crossed out.
• Recently. A price from last spring tells you nothing about what this item is worth in November.
• For long enough. A weekend at the high price followed by six weeks at the low one does not make the low one a saving.

Because there is no window to count, two shops can both be within the rules and tell you very different stories about the same product. The number that settles it is not on the price tag.

What to look at instead

• The price history. Three months of weekly prices answers in one glance what the “was” price only hints at.
• What it sold for. On eBay the Sold filter shows what buyers actually paid in recent weeks — a real number, not a reference one.
• The total. A lower price with a delivery charge added can be the more expensive basket. Compare what leaves your account.

The thirty seconds that settle it

• Check the price history before you read the percentage.
• If the “was” price appears only during the sale, it is not a was price.
• Compare the total, delivery included, against the same total elsewhere.