Crossed-out prices: what the EU rules allow

The strikethrough price rules in the EU turn on one question: what does the crossed-out number stand for? Shop platforms call it a “was” price, a “compare-at” price, a strikethrough price or a reference price. EU law has one name for the figure that matters when you announce a reduction: the prior price.

This guide explains what you may cross out, how to work out a percentage, and where recommended retail prices fit. The rule itself is covered in the Omnibus Directive and the 30-day lowest price.

What a crossed-out price claims

A crossed-out price next to a lower one tells the shopper that the price has come down. The Commission’s guidance on Article 6a of the Price Indication Directive treats that as an announcement of a price reduction. It lists several forms:

• a percentage or an amount, such as “20 % off” or “EUR 10 off”;
• a new price shown with the earlier, higher one, such as “now EUR 50, was EUR 100”, where the earlier price “can be presented in crossed-out form”;
• other techniques, such as presenting the current price as a starting price with a higher price to follow.

Words alone are enough. The guidance says that “sales”, “special offers” or “Black Friday offers” that create the impression of a reduction are covered as well.

A plain price cut is not covered. In the words of the guidance, Article 6a “does not restrict in any way” price decreases that come without an announcement. If you lower a price and say nothing, there is nothing to indicate.

The reference: the lowest price of the previous 30 days

Article 6a(1) requires that “any announcement of a price reduction shall indicate the prior price”. Article 6a(2) defines it:

The prior price means the lowest price applied by the trader during a period of time not shorter than 30 days prior to the application of the price reduction.

Two points follow from the guidance. First, earlier promotions count: the lowest price “shall include any previous ‘reduced’ price during that period”. Second, the prior price is fixed when the reduction starts. A trader indicates it “at the start of each price reduction” and can keep it for the whole reduction, even if that lasts longer than 30 days.

Example 1 (illustrative figures). A lamp sells at €80. From 1 to 7 March it is on promotion at €60, then it returns to €80. On 20 March the shop wants to announce a new offer.

Percentages and “you save” amounts after Aldi Süd

One reading of Article 6a was that the prior price only had to appear near the offer, as information. The Court of Justice decided otherwise on 26 September 2024 in case C-330/23, which began with an action by a German consumer association against Aldi Süd.

The facts were simple. A weekly brochure advertised bananas at €1.29 with a struck-through price of €1.69 and a percentage. Underneath was the text “Last selling price. Lowest price in the last 30 days”, followed by €1.29. Pineapples were shown at €1.49 with €1.69 struck through and the words “price highlight”; the lowest price of the last 30 days was €1.39.

The Court ruled that Article 6a requires that a reduction “announced by a trader in the form of a percentage, or in the form of a promotional statement intended to highlight the advantageous nature of the announced price, must be determined on the basis of the ‘prior price’”. It added that a price presented as reduced “cannot in fact be the same as that ‘prior price’, or be higher than it”.

In practice, a separate line with the 30-day price does not cover a percentage calculated from another figure. The percentage, the “you save” amount and the crossed-out figure all need the same basis.

Raising the price shortly before a sale

The 30-day window exists for this situation. The guidance describes its purpose as making sure that the reference price “is real and not merely a marketing tool to make the reduction seem attractive”.

It gives its own example. Where the announcement is “50 % off” and the lowest price in the previous 30 days was EUR 100, the seller has to present EUR 100 as the prior price from which the 50 % is calculated, “despite the fact that the last selling price of the good was EUR 160”.

Example 2 (illustrative figures). A jacket costs €100 for two months. On 1 November the price goes up to €160. On 10 November the shop announces “50 % off”. The prior price is €100, so the offer price that matches the announcement is €50, not €80.

Back-to-back sales and progressive reductions

By default, each new reduction has its own prior price, and that price includes the previous promotion.

Example 3 (illustrative figures). Headphones cost €100. On Black Friday they sell at €70, then return to €100. On 15 December the shop plans a Christmas offer at €75. The lowest price of the previous 30 days is €70. An offer at €75 is above the prior price, so it cannot be presented as a reduction from it.

The guidance names this pattern: successive campaigns such as Black Friday followed by Cyber Monday and Christmas sales. The general rule applies to each of them.

There is one option for a different case. Under Article 6a(5), Member States may provide that when a reduction is progressively increased, the prior price is the price before the first reduction. The guidance’s example: a product whose lowest price was EUR 100 is reduced by 10 %, then 20 %, then 30 %, and EUR 100 stays the prior price throughout. The guidance reads this option narrowly. It applies only when the price goes down “progressively, without interruptions” within the same campaign. Whether it applies to you depends on your country, so check your national law.

A campaign may also be extended, as long as consumers are clearly told that it is an extension and not a new campaign.

Showing your regular price as well

Many shops discount often and feel the 30-day price hides their usual price. The guidance leaves room for that. Article 6a does not prevent a seller from indicating other reference prices, provided they are clearly explained, do not create confusion and do not draw attention away from the prior price. Its example:

20 % off from [starting date] to [end date]: EUR 80 instead of EUR 100, our lowest price in the past 30 days. Our regular price, outside promotional periods, during the past 30 (or 100 days etc.) was EUR 120

The reduction is calculated from the prior price (EUR 100). The regular price is extra information with its own label.

Recommended retail prices and other sellers’ prices

A comparison is not a reduction. The guidance says that “comparisons with other prices, e.g. prices of other traders or the manufacturer’s recommended retail price” are “outside the scope of Article 6a” but “remain fully subject” to the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC). Comparisons with other traders’ prices also fall under the directive on misleading and comparative advertising (2006/114/EC).

The line between the two is how the shopper reads the page. The guidance says a seller presenting a price comparison “must pay utmost attention to ensure that the average consumer does not perceive the comparison with, e.g. the recommended retail price, as a price reduction”. If the presentation makes it look like a reduction, the practice “can amount to the breach of both” sets of rules.

This matters for the “compare-at” field in a shop platform. The name of the field has no legal meaning. If the figure in it appears struck through beside your selling price with no label, it takes the form the guidance gives as an example of a reduction announcement. If it is a recommended retail price, say so on the page.

What the 30-day rule does not cover

According to the guidance, Article 6a does not apply to:

• loyalty programmes that give a discount over an extended period or let customers collect points;
• real personalised reductions, such as a voucher received after a purchase or a birthday discount;
• combined or tied offers, such as “buy one, get two” or “30 % off when buying three”;
• general claims such as “best prices” that do not create the impression of a reduction;
• services and digital content, because the directive covers goods.

These remain subject to the rules on unfair commercial practices. One caution: a code that is “presented as personalised” but offered to consumers in general, such as “today 20 % off when using the code XYZ”, is covered by Article 6a.

Do and don’t

Records and national differences

To indicate a prior price you need to know every price you charged in the previous 30 days, for each product and each variant. That is a record-keeping task before it is a display task. The guide to product variants covers the per-variant side.

Member States may set different rules for goods that deteriorate or expire rapidly and a shorter period for goods on the market for less than 30 days, and they set their own penalties. Check your national law, and see the checklist of EU rules for online shops.

StoreCompliant records each price change from the day it is installed, shows the 30-day lowest price under discounted prices, and flags a crossed-out price that is higher than anything on record for the previous 30 days. It is a compliance aid, not legal advice; plans are on the pricing page.