Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 137 - DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE › Division 20 - MISLEADING PRICE REPRESENTATIONS › Section 137-020-0010 - Trade Practices Act

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1) Purpose:
			 It is the purpose of this rule to declare as an unlawful trade practice certain
			 representations relating to price reductions.
(2) Scope: At present, it is unlawful under
			 ORS 646.608(1)(j)
			 to make "false or misleading representations of fact concerning the reasons
			 for, existence of, or amounts of price reductions." This rule is intended to
			 define types of price comparisons which are in violation of that section, by
			 establishing permissible types of reference price advertising. The rule does
			 not address misrepresentations regarding the "reasons for" price reductions.
			 The Examples provided in this rule are for illustrative purposes
			 only.
(3) Authority: This rule is
			 adopted pursuant to ORS Chapter 183 on authority granted to the Attorney
			 General by ORS 646.608(1)(s) and
			 (4).
(4) Effective Date: This rule applies to all
			 advertisements (other than catalogues) printed, distributed, or broadcast, or
			 offers for sale made, after September 1, 1976. Subsection (6)(e) of this rule
			 applies to all catalogues distributed in Oregon after January 1,
			 1977.
(5) Definitions: As used in
			 this rule:
(a) The definitions of terms set
			 forth in ORS 646.605(1975)
			 are applicable;
(b) "Catalogue"
			 means a multi-page solicitation in which a person offers more than one specific
			 type of goods for sale from which a consumer can order goods directly without
			 going to the seller's place of business, and which is distributed to consumers
			 by means other than by inclusion in a newspaper;
(c) "Competitor" means a retail outlet in the
			 person's geographic market area with whom the person in fact competes for
			 sales;
(d) "Offering Price" means
			 the price at which a person represents that goods will be sold or leased,
			 whether stated as a definite sum of money or as a determinate reduction from a
			 reference price;
(e) "Reference
			 Price" means any price, whether stated in dollars, in terms of a percentage or
			 faction, or by any other method, to which a person compares the currently
			 represented offering price of its own goods. Examples of "reference prices"
			 include manufacturer's suggested list or suggested retail prices; a
			 competitor's offering price for the same or similar goods; a price at which the
			 person formerly offered for sale or sold the same or similar goods; and an
			 unspecified price at which the person formerly offered for sale or sold the
			 same or similar goods suggested by the use of terms such as "on sale," "reduced
			 to," "________% off," or the like;
(f) "Readily Ascertainable Reference Price"
			 means a reference price which is capable of being determined, from a stated
			 offering price, by means of a simple arithmetic computation;
(g) "Similar Goods" mean goods associated
			 with a reference price which are similar in each significant aspect, including
			 size, grade, quality, quantity, ingredients, utility and operating
			 characteristics, to the offered goods.