Deceptive Pricing / Perpetual-Sale Cases
The fake-discount case is won on price history: a "reference price" is unlawful unless the good actually sold at that price in the regular course of business within the preceding three months. A defendant whose 40%-off sale never ends has manufactured the discount — the Hinojos perpetual-sale doctrine — and archived price history proves it.
Elements & controlling authority
- Defendant displayed a reference price or discount claim
FAL § 17501; CLRA § 1770(a)(9),(13); 16 CFR § 233.1. - Reference price was not bona fide
Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17501; Hinojos v. Kohl's, 718 F.3d 1098 (9th Cir. 2013) (perpetual-sale doctrine). - Materiality of the price representation
Brockey v. Moore, 107 Cal.App.4th 86, 100 (2003); Kwikset, 51 Cal.4th 310. - Likely to deceive a reasonable consumer
Williams v. Gerber Prods., 552 F.3d 934 (9th Cir. 2008); People v. Sup. Ct. (J.C. Penney), 34 Cal.App.5th 376 (2019). - Plaintiff paid the inflated price
Hinojos, 718 F.3d at 1107.
The evidence you need — and what we capture
- Cart-to-checkout pricing checkpoints sealed in sequence during a live session
- Wayback Machine price-history corroboration showing the "sale" never ends
- The strike-through reference price and promotional framing, captured verbatim
Every capture is sealed at collection: SHA-256 hash-chained artifacts with RFC 3161 trusted timestamps, a methodology block, and a documented scope of audit. If the defendant changes the site tomorrow, the record of today survives.
Damages framework
UCL/FAL restitution of the manufactured discount, CLRA statutory damages, and injunctive relief; class = purchasers during the perpetual-sale window.
Frequently asked
What is the perpetual-sale doctrine?
Under Hinojos v. Kohl's (9th Cir. 2013), a "reference price" is unlawful unless the product actually sold at that price in the regular course of business; a discount that never ends is a manufactured one.
How do you prove a fake reference price?
Archived price history (e.g., Wayback Machine) showing the "sale" price is the perpetual price, captured in sequence through the checkout flow.
Pre-vetted defendants in this lane are live on the marketplace. Each listing clears arbitration-posture review, a prior-litigation screen against the federal docket, and a human editorial gate before it appears. First buyer takes the defendant exclusively.
Browse 4 live Deceptive Pricing / Perpetual-Sale listings →