2026-10-27

Black Friday "was" prices: what the ACCC checks before you publish a sale

A "was" price in an Australian sale has to be a price you really charged for a reasonable time just before the sale, or the comparison can mislead. The ACCC also looks hard at "up to" discounts, countdown timers, fine print that contradicts the headline, and prices that grow at checkout, and misleading pricing is one of its enforcement priorities for 2026–27.

Black Friday falls on 27 November this year, with Cyber Monday on 30 November and Boxing Day sales straight after Christmas. That's three big sale moments in a month, and the same handful of claims cause trouble in all of them. Before your ad, email or product page goes live, check these five.

1. Make the "was" price a price you really charged

A strike-through or "was $80, now $60" tells shoppers they're saving $20. That's only true if $80 is a genuine price the item was offered at, and ideally sold at, for a reasonable period immediately before the sale. A price you charged for two days in October, or a recommended retail price nobody ever paid, doesn't count.

Safer: keep a record of the old price and when it applied, and say so if the period is short: "Was $80 from 1 September to 26 November, now $60."

2. Say how many items get the top discount

"Up to 50% off" sounds like a storewide half-price sale. If only three items are actually at 50% and the rest are 10% off, the headline overstates the deal. The ACCC expects the top figure to apply to a reasonable share of what's on sale.

Safer: "50% off 12 selected candles, 10–30% off everything else," or name the products at the top discount.

3. Only count down to a real deadline

A countdown timer or "ends tonight" pushes people to decide now. If the timer restarts tomorrow, or the "last chance" sale runs for another week, the urgency was false.

Safer: set one real end date and keep it. If you extend the sale, change the wording too ("Extended to Sunday").

4. Keep the fine print consistent with the headline

"Sitewide 40% off*" with an asterisk that excludes half the store, or free shipping that needs a $150 minimum hidden in the footer, are classic problems. The headline has to be true on its own; fine print can add detail, not take the deal back.

Safer: put the main conditions next to the claim: "40% off everything except gift cards and new arrivals."

5. Show the total price up front

Fees that appear only at checkout ("booking fee", "service fee", "processing fee") are drip pricing. You need to show the total price, including any compulsory fee, as prominently as the headline price. And a reminder for Australian shops: surcharges on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa card payments have been banned since 1 October 2026, so a card fee can't be added at checkout either.

Safer: build compulsory fees into the price you advertise.

Check your ad in 30 seconds

We built a free Black Friday sale-claim checker: paste the text of your ad, email or product page, and it highlights each of the claims above with a safer way to word it. It runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded. It's a checklist based on ACCC guidance, not legal advice.

Then make the sale video itself with our free Black Friday video maker: paste your product link, type your discount, download. If you used a "was" price, it shows the old price struck through only when you've given it a real price and a real discount.

Sources

• ACCC, Two-price comparison advertising
• ACCC, Component pricing
• ACCC, Price displays
• ACCC, warning to retailers ahead of Boxing Day sales (18 December 2025)
• RBA, card surcharging changes

FAQ