Guidance for Traders on Pricing Practices updated by Trading Standards

Guidance for Traders on Pricing Practices was originally produced in 2018 by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI). The purpose of the guidance was to provide businesses with practical advice on how to avoid falling foul of unfair pricing practices for consumer products. Practices in-scope include:

• Reference pricing (i.e., an RRP price);
• Use of ‘free’;
• Time-limited offers; and
• Volume offers (3 for 2) to name a few…

This guidance has now been updated to reflect the consumer protection provisions which were introduced by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 in April 2025.

Importantly for businesses, regulators may refer to this updated guidance when making enforcement decisions about a particular pricing practice therefore it’s crucial that businesses are familiar, and comply, with the guidance.