France Fines Boohoo €2.33m for Fake Discounts
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
France’s consumer-fraud authority DGCCRF has fined fast-fashion retailer Boohoo €2.33m for deceptive discounting — inflating ‘reference prices’ to fake reductions — after finding 95% of checked promotions non-compliant and nearly half were actually price increases. It’s a clear warning to anyone advertising markdowns to French shoppers.
What happened
France’s DGCCRF fined British online retailer Boohoo €2.33m for deceptive commercial practices, chiefly bogus “reference price” markdowns. An investigation into several hundred products found the site systematically inflated strikethrough prices to manufacture the appearance of reductions. Boohoo accepted the settlement, which was approved by the Paris prosecutor.
The detail is damning. Of the promotional claims checked, 95% were non-compliant, 40% showed no real reduction at all, and 48% were actually price increases dressed up as discounts. It follows France’s high-profile fake-discount action against Shein, confirming ultra-fast-fashion advertising is now a standing regulatory target.
Why ‘reference pricing’ is the trap
A discount only means something against a genuine prior price. When the “was” price is invented or briefly inflated to make the “now” price look generous, the reduction is fiction — and in France, that’s illegal, not merely cheeky. The DGCCRF’s numbers suggest this wasn’t occasional error but a pricing method.
For marketers, the uncomfortable truth is that the psychology works, which is exactly why it’s policed. A crossed-out higher price lifts perceived value and conversion. But the regulator treats the strikethrough as a factual claim about history, and a false claim about history is a false claim.
Marketing Minute’s read: your ‘was’ price is a factual claim, treat it like one
The safe standard is straightforward: a reference price should reflect a real, recent price at which the product was genuinely offered for a meaningful period. If you can’t evidence that the “was” price was ever the actual selling price, you don’t have a discount — you have a liability.
This matters far beyond fast fashion. Any brand running “was/now”, “RRP”, “50% off” or countdown-sale messaging into the French market is held to the same test — and the direction of travel across Europe and the UK (see the CMA’s parallel drip-pricing push) is identical. Honest reference pricing is becoming table stakes.
What businesses should do now
Audit your promotional pricing: can you evidence, for every strikethrough, that the higher price was genuinely charged recently and for long enough to count? Kill any “permanent sale” mechanics where the discount never expires, and treat every reference price as a claim you may one day have to prove.
Quick FAQ
Why was Boohoo fined in France?
The DGCCRF found Boohoo used fake ‘reference prices’ — inflated strikethrough prices — to create the appearance of discounts. It was fined €2.33m for deceptive commercial practices, in a settlement approved by the Paris prosecutor.
How widespread was the problem?
Of the promotional claims the DGCCRF checked, 95% were non-compliant, 40% showed no real reduction, and 48% were actually price increases presented as discounts.
What should retailers do?
Ensure every reference price reflects a genuine, recent selling price held for a meaningful period, and avoid permanent-sale mechanics where the ‘discount’ never expires.
A discount is a claim about the past, and in France the regulator will check your history. When nearly half your ‘reductions’ are actually price rises, that isn’t marketing — it’s a fine waiting to happen. The strikethrough works precisely because shoppers trust it, which is exactly why you have to be able to prove the ‘was’ price was ever real. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Your ‘was’ price is a factual claim about history — if you can’t evidence it was genuinely charged recently, you don’t have a discount, you have a liability.
Could you prove, for every strikethrough price you run, that it was genuinely the selling price not long ago?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Stratégies, L’Avenir, Bourse Inside.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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