At least in the US there's regulations against "loss leaders", products
advertised at ruinously low prices (below the cost to the merchant) to entice
shoppers into the store. Loss leaders themselves aren't a violation, but their
use solely to entice shoppers in with the intention of upselling those shoppers
to a more expensive item once they're in the door, with no intention of actually
selling the low-priced item at the advertised price, is against the rules
and can get a merchant prosecuted. One of the key elements is that the merchant
refuses to sell the loss-leader item at the advertised price even when a
customer's prepared to buy and pay. It's considered a form of deceptive
advertising and misrepresentation.
Of course, most commonly it's easy to
spot because when you offer to pay the shop's always "out of stock" or the
item's "on back-order" and an investigation shows that the shop either never
ordered any or only had 1 or 2 in stock. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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