Ministry moves to investigate discount-sale advertising

Turkey’s Trade Ministry has put discount advertising under closer scrutiny, warning that consumers must not be misled by inflated “before” prices or campaign conditions hidden in the fine print.

The ministry said discount advertisements must be accurate, clear, understandable and verifiable so consumers can base their purchasing decisions on reliable information. Inspections will cover traditional media as well as digital platforms.

A central part of the new rules, which took effect on Aug. 1, requires retailers to use the lowest price applied during the 10 days before a discounted sale began as the pre-discount price. The measure targets practices that create the impression of a large reduction by briefly raising a price before marking it down, described by the ministry as a “price increase followed by a discount.”

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Consumers must not be misled under the name of a discount.

The rules also cover conditional sales advertisements, not only campaigns that directly advertise phrases such as “50% off.” Promotions that tie a discount or other benefit to a condition will be examined if they prevent consumers from understanding the campaign’s real terms or make an offer appear more advantageous than it is. Exceptions allow advertisements for perishable goods such as fruit and vegetables, as well as services, to use the price immediately preceding the discounted price.

The ministry said the Advertising Board can impose fines for using discount rates that were never actually applied, failing to identify the products included in a sale, omitting its start and end dates, presenting stock information inaccurately or using an untruthful pre-discount price. Administrative penalties can reach 39.916 million liras.

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The lowest price applied during the last 10 days before the start of the discounted sale must be taken as the pre-discount price.