Does a 'was' price make a sale sell better?

Yes. A 'was' price makes a deal look better, and the research on that is solid. That's exactly why a fake one can break the law, and why the CMA can fine a business up to 10% of its turnover or £300,000, whichever is greater.

This piece opens our series on sale prices and urgency, checked, which sets out what the evidence and the regulators say, with a link to each source. None of it is legal advice.

Why a 'was' price works

The CMA's evidence review puts it plainly: "A large body of evidence demonstrates that the presence of a reference price raises consumers' valuations of the offer and their purchase intentions." Shoppers, it adds, "may interpret it as the 'normal', most commonly charged, or un-discounted price". What nobody has studied is what a 'was' price does to a small shop's sales in particular.

When a 'was' price is legal

Only if the higher price was real. Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, misleading people is banned whenever "the average consumer is likely to take a different decision as a result". Among the things the CMA says can change that decision are the price itself, how it's worked out, and "the existence of a specific price advantage", which is precisely what a 'was' price suggests. The advertising code puts it in one line: "Price comparisons must not mislead by falsely claiming a price advantage."

The CMA gives examples of "was" prices that break the rules: a higher price charged for less time than the lower one, or one at which hardly anything sold; a price that kept flipping between the two, or that was undercut afterwards; a short-lived hike just before the sale; and a price last charged a long time ago. Whatever the case, the business "should be able to demonstrate" that the higher price was a genuine and realistic selling price.

No rule says how long you must have charged the higher price. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute's pricing guidance lists the things to weigh up, but says of itself that it "is not statutory guidance, and a court is not bound to accept it".

More may be on the way. In August 2026 the government said a consultation "will launch this autumn" on adding fake "was" prices, invented discounts and misleading recommended retail prices to the Act's banned practices. As of 1 October 2026, it hadn't appeared among GOV.UK's open consultations.

Showing a 'was' price you can stand behind

• Take the comparison price from your own records, and keep the evidence: what you charged, for how long, and what sold at it.
• Don't raise a price in October to cut it in November.
• If you can't show a genuine higher price, leave the "was" off.

The same care applies to countdown timers, to booking fees and to the adverts that carry the sale. If you'd like to plan the whole November push in one go, that's what our 90-day marketing plan is for.