Can a reputable online retailer charge more for the same item with 'free' accessories?

cymruchris

I'm not sure if there are any 'rights' as such here - but am looking at purchasing an item that's around £650.

On a fairly reputable British retailers website they have the item as:

Stand alone with no accessories - Was £699.99 Now £649.99

Same item supplied with FREE accessory A and FREE accessory B - £699.99

I've dropped them a message to ask will they change it accordingly - but can't find much in good old Google to state whether a retailer can offer the same item at different prices with and without FREE items. 

Aylesbury_Duck

I think they can, technically.  They could still claim the extras are free of charge, just that they have two prices for the base product.

Is the base product exactly the same in both cases?  Or is one a different edition/release, for example?

It's clumsy, but I don't think there's anything technically wrong with it.

Money_Grabber13579

In my opinion, I would consider this practice to be misleading, because on one hand, anything which comes with something free is likely to be an incentive to purchase but at the same time, it clearly isn’t free if you have to pay an extra £50 to get the “free” accessories.

powerful_Rogue

Nothing wrong with a retailer doing this.

cymruchris

powerful_Rogue said:

Nothing wrong with a retailer doing this.

I had a feeling it would be the case - although not necessarily good from a consumer perspective. Always good to clarify with our collective great minds if unsure. 

cymruchris

Money_Grabber13579 said:

In my opinion, I would consider this practice to be misleading, because on one hand, anything which comes with something free is likely to be an incentive to purchase but at the same time, it clearly isn’t free if you have to pay an extra £50 to get the “free” accessories.

Yes - it’s not good as a consumer to spot that the same item with free accessories is £50 more. 

cymruchris

Aylesbury_Duck said:

I think they can, technically.  They could still claim the extras are free of charge, just that they have two prices for the base product.

Is the base product exactly the same in both cases?  Or is one a different edition/release, for example?

It's clumsy, but I don't think there's anything technically wrong with it.

Yes absolutely the same base product - one is the regular line - and one is a promo bundle with the free accessories - but now that bundle is £50 more than the base product. They’ve reduced the base product but not the bundle. 

molerat

I suspect there will be a  " * Based on RRP " statement somewhere.

sheramber

Older stock reduced to make way for new stock which include accessories.

Free accessories will have been supplied with new stock from manufacturer.

Tesco were selling a single pack of biscuits at less than half the price of the double pack.

When queried they stated that the single packs were new stock which came in priced  at the cheaper amount.

zoob

cymruchris said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

I think they can, technically.  They could still claim the extras are free of charge, just that they have two prices for the base product.

Is the base product exactly the same in both cases?  Or is one a different edition/release, for example?

It's clumsy, but I don't think there's anything technically wrong with it.

Yes absolutely the same base product - one is the regular line - and one is a promo bundle with the free accessories - but now that bundle is £50 more than the base product. They’ve reduced the base product but not the bundle. 

Does it state that the extra products are actual free ? 

cymruchris

zoob said:

cymruchris said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

I think they can, technically.  They could still claim the extras are free of charge, just that they have two prices for the base product.

Is the base product exactly the same in both cases?  Or is one a different edition/release, for example?

It's clumsy, but I don't think there's anything technically wrong with it.

Yes absolutely the same base product - one is the regular line - and one is a promo bundle with the free accessories - but now that bundle is £50 more than the base product. They’ve reduced the base product but not the bundle. 

Does it state that the extra products are actual free ? 

Yes - Marked as 'Free' - I've just noticed they mention 'Price match' - I can ask them when they reply to my message (if they don't reduce the price) to match their own price (But I'm sure they'd argue then that it's not a like for like product). Incidentally I've spotted it 'supplied and delivered by Amazon' for a better price - but I'll see what they come back with first as I've also got a ten percent voucher that I can use with this retailer.