{"id":32768,"date":"2026-05-04T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/?p=32768"},"modified":"2026-05-05T10:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T08:47:09","slug":"price-increase-sold-as-a-discount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/price-increase-sold-as-a-discount\/","title":{"rendered":"Price increase sold as a discount"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull v4-pattern-hero v4-pattern-hero--post is-style-background-blend is-style-arrow has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull v4-pattern-hero__cover\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);min-height:75vh;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><img data-dominant-color=\"365098\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"585\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-32763 size-large not-transparent\" alt=\"Preiserh\u00f6hung als Rabatt verkauft, Wettbewerbsrecht, Matratze, E-Commerce, Rechtsanwalt\" src=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Preiserhoehung-als-Rabatt-verkauft-1024x585.jpg\" style=\"--dominant-color: #365098; object-position:45% 87%\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" data-object-position=\"45% 87%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Preiserhoehung-als-Rabatt-verkauft-1024x585.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Preiserhoehung-als-Rabatt-verkauft-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Preiserhoehung-als-Rabatt-verkauft-768x439.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Preiserhoehung-als-Rabatt-verkauft-1536x878.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/Preiserhoehung-als-Rabatt-verkauft-2048x1170.jpg 2048w\" \/><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-base-background-color has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:5em\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1d4b5d69 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-19e250f3 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\r\n<h1 id=\"multirow-headline-block_03dc108c7df625e3690c8e06d901084f\" class=\"wp-block-visual4-multirow-headline\">\r\n    <div class=\"wp-block-visual4-multirow-headline\">\n\n<p class=\"has-gigantic-font-size\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:1;text-transform:uppercase\">Price increase  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-huge-font-size\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:15%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:1;text-transform:uppercase\">sold as a<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-contrast-color has-text-color has-link-color has-gigantic-font-size wp-elements-4b8be2bb1117d05a7aeea30e5560923c\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:1;text-transform:uppercase\"><span class=\"v4-marker-highlight-background\">discount.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/div> \r\n<\/h1>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-small-font-size is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-76c96157 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:italic;font-weight:300;text-transform:uppercase\"><div style=\"font-style:italic;font-weight:300;text-transform:uppercase;\" class=\"wp-block-post-date has-small-font-size\"><time datetime=\"2026-05-04T09:00:00+02:00\">4. May 2026<\/time><\/div>\n\n\n<p>from<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"font-style:italic;font-weight:600;\" class=\"wp-block-post-author-name\">Clemens Pfitzer<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-c93ec0be wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>An online store advertises a big discount, the crossed-out price looks tempting and you click on the offer. But what if the crossed-out price was not the previous normal price at all, but the retailer artificially increased it shortly beforehand? And does a clarifying note still help if you have already landed on the product page?  <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-was-war-passiert\"><strong>What had happened?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p>A mattress seller spotted a competitor and was stunned. He advertised two mattress models on his website at greatly reduced prices: 169 euros instead of 269 euros and 229 euros instead of 249 euros. That sounds like a good deal.  <\/p>\n\n<p>However, a look at the prices from the previous week showed the true picture. Exactly the same mattresses had cost 129 and 199 euros respectively. So the price had not gone down, but up. The price drop suggested a saving that never existed. The competitor was issued a cease and desist letter for <a href=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/rechtsgebiet\/wettbewerbsrecht\/\" type=\"rechtsgebiet\" id=\"197\">infringement of competition law<\/a>, but refused to pay the cease and desist letter costs of over 1,100 euros.    <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-kann-ein-hinweis-die-sache-retten\">Can a clue save the day?<\/h2>\n\n<p>The warned company argued that the next page, after clicking on the banner, showed the real previous week&#8217;s price. The customer had therefore been informed before making a purchase. <\/p>\n\n<p>The Cologne Higher Regional Court allowed the  <a href=\"https:\/\/medien-internet-und-recht.de\/pdf\/VT-MIR-2026-Dok-028.pdf\">Judgment of 27.03.2026 &#8211; Ref. 6 U 77\/25 <\/a> do not apply. After all, anyone who clicks on an offer has already made a decision, namely to take a closer look at the product. It was precisely this decision that was triggered by the false impression of a favorable offer. In this context, the court spoke of a so-called &#8220;lure effect&#8221;.  <\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group v4-pattern-general-quote-box has-kpw-turquoise-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70)\">\n<p>The fact that the customer is still told the true price previously demanded before the purchase contract is concluded is not suitable to rule out an inducement to make a business decision.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>In addition, the explanatory notice appeared on the following page and was written in the smallest font size of the entire offer &#8211; even smaller than the reprinted strike price. Anyone advertising a conspicuous price reduction must make a correction at least as visible. <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-muss-man-fur-so-eine-abmahnung-zahlen\">Do I have to pay for such a cease and desist letter?<\/h2>\n\n<p>The warned company tried another way out. It invoked a legal regulation that excludes warning costs for certain formal infringements in <a href=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/rechtsgebiet\/e-commerce\/\" type=\"rechtsgebiet\" id=\"191\">online trading<\/a>. These include, for example, missing mandatory information that can be easily detected by an automatic computer program.  <\/p>\n\n<p>However, the court was not convinced by this either. If an <a href=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/industries\/advertising\/\" type=\"industry\" id=\"24084\">advertisement <\/a>not only infringes a formality, but actively misleads consumers, this exclusion does not apply. Otherwise, retailers could advertise with fake discounts with impunity and <a href=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/en\/topics\/competitor\/\" type=\"topic\" id=\"23429\">competitors <\/a>would no longer have any reason to take action against them. This would simply not be compatible with the aim of consumer protection.   <\/p>\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n            <div id=\"content-cloner-block_c6ab637fca49d80137b3c442183506b0\" class=\"wp-block-visual4-content-cloner alignfull\">\r\n            \n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull is-light has-base-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b24dfd2c2975c61c616eb74d9a3ea188\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70)\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-secondary-background-color has-background-dim-60 has-background-dim\"><\/span><video class=\"wp-block-cover__video-background intrinsic-ignore\" autoplay muted loop playsinline src=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/loop-1.mp4\" data-object-fit=\"cover\"><\/video><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-cf05694f wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:40%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-19e250f3 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c531013 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\" style=\"font-style:italic;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:10%\">Received a cease and desist letter?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\r\n<div id=\"multirow-headline-block_89d90b0b4ba9c64f84d3dc2da187b910\" class=\"wp-block-visual4-multirow-headline alignwide\">\r\n    <div class=\"wp-block-visual4-multirow-headline\">\n\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:1;text-transform:uppercase\">How to react<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-x-large-font-size\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:8%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:0.9;text-transform:uppercase\">You are best advised to<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-huge-font-size\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:0.9;text-transform:uppercase\">cease and desist letter!<\/p>\n\n<\/div> \r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">A cease and desist letter, e.g. for infringement of competition law, industrial property rights or copyright, should always be taken seriously, as it can have considerable legal and financial consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Timely and professional advice is crucial in order to minimize risks and develop the right strategy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);flex-basis:60%\">\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Check cease and desist letter:<\/strong> Have the cease and desist letter legally checked. Not every cease and desist letter is justified, formally correct and abusive cease and desist letters are unlawful. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Observe the deadline<\/strong>: Be sure to respond within the set deadline to avoid further legal action such as an injunction or a lawsuit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Check the cease-and-desist declaration<\/strong>: Do not sign a pre-formulated cease-and-desist declaration without legal advice. It could be too far-reaching and lead to considerable and lasting disadvantages. Once a cease-and-desist declaration has been signed, it is almost impossible to get rid of it and can result in considerable follow-up costs in the form of high contractual penalties.  <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strategy<\/strong>: Regardless of whether the cease and desist letter is justified or not, you should consider the right strategy for responding to the cease and desist letter with professional support. Many aspects play a role here. For example, there may be formal errors or the submission of a cease-and-desist declaration may involve incalculable risks.  <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n        <\/div>\r\n    \r\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bedeutung-fur-die-praxis\">Significance for practice<\/h2>\n\n<p>A strike price may only display the lowest price of the last 30 days. Anyone who artificially increases the price shortly before a promotion in order to show a supposed discount afterwards is acting unfairly. <\/p>\n\n<p>An informative notice must be clearly visible where the advertising is made. Small print on a subpage is not sufficient. <\/p>\n\n<p>Even clicking on an advertising banner is legally considered a consumer decision. Misleading is therefore not only present at the point of purchase. Online retailers should carefully document price promotions &#8211; especially around Black Friday or Christmas &#8211; and ensure that all advertised discounts are correct.  <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns v4-pattern-text-copy-half-col is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>The ruling makes it clear that anyone who advertises with strike prices must be serious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A discount that is not really a discount is not a clever marketing strategy, but misleading &#8211; and therefore a violation of competition law. Misleading content cannot be justified with small print on the next page. Online retailers should therefore ensure that their pricing and discount campaigns are legally sound.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80)\">\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide v4-pattern-cta-box has-secondary-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a7c0d175 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide are-vertically-aligned-top v4-pattern-cta-box__columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-ec2e7a44 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top v4-pattern-cta-box__columns-column is-layout-flow wp-container-core-column-is-layout-bce6ca70 wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-bottom:0;flex-basis:60%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-right is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-5c12a1d1 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\r\n<div id=\"multirow-headline-block_89d90b0b4ba9c64f84d3dc2da187b910\" class=\"wp-block-visual4-multirow-headline alignwide\">\r\n    <div class=\"wp-block-visual4-multirow-headline\">\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-huge-font-size\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:1;text-transform:uppercase\">We are happy to<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-x-large-font-size\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:8%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:0.9;text-transform:uppercase\">advise you about<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-huge-font-size\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0%;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:1000;line-height:0.9;text-transform:uppercase\">Competition law!<\/p>\n\n<\/div> \r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-5c3c14bb wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-visual4-contact-modal__button\">\r\n            \r\n        <div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\r\n            \r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-button v4-contact-modal-button is-style-fill\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600\" data-form-id=\"8\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-contrast-color has-base-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\">Contact form<\/a><\/div>\r\n\r\n        <\/div>\r\n        \r\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-style-mobile-only is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-fc4fd283 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-arrow is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-base-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"tel:4971141019030\" style=\"padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);font-style:normal;font-weight:600\">Call now!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top v4-pattern-cta-box__columns-column v4-pattern-cta-box__columns-column--image is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:40%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full v4-pattern-cta-box__columns-column__image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kpw.law\/wp-content\/themes\/kpw-law\/assets\/samples\/person-cropped.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23155\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Price increase sold as a discount. Cologne Higher Regional Court clarifies that fake discounts are unfair and that small print does not help the advertiser.   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4904],"tags":[5309,5316,6417,6419,5052,5327,5054,6418,5314,6420,5073,5071,6416,5610,4907],"thema":[],"rechtsgebiet":[4987,5013],"produkt":[],"class_list":["post-32768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-discount","tag-discount-advertising","tag-discount-campaign","tag-mattress","tag-misleading","tag-misleading-en","tag-misleading-advertising","tag-moon-prices","tag-price","tag-price-action","tag-price-indication-ordinance","tag-price-quotation","tag-price-truth","tag-strike-price","tag-warning","rechtsgebiet-competition-law","rechtsgebiet-e-commerce-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Price increase sold as a discount<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Price increase sold as a discount. 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