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ARTICLE · 02 MAY 2023

Legal tips for e-commerce businesses: When does a 'limited time offer' become misleading? (Part 3)

Holding Redlich
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To avoid breaching consumer laws, take care not to create false urgency around your marketing offers.

AustraliaConsumer Protection
Emily Booth
Emily Booth
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Don't you hate it when you rush to buy a 'limited offer' only for it to be repeatedly extended past the original date? Whilst this might seem a fairly common practice, this type of behaviour from retailers can still be misleading and deceptive and in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.

Crying 'wolf': When limited offers can land you in hot water

If you are a retailer wondering whether you can extend the period of a limited offer, it is likely to be low risk if you genuinely did not foresee extending the period at the beginning of the offer period and it's more of a 'once-off' occurrence.

However, when you do this more regularly in response to a spike in sales for example, or arbitrarily set an end date knowing that you will extend it, it could verge on misleading conduct. This is because you may be falsely advertising an end date that is not genuine (in order to get increased interest from consumers, for example). Apart from legal issues, this could also

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This publication does not deal with every important topic or change in law and is not intended to be relied upon as a substitute for legal or other advice that may be relevant to the reader's specific circumstances. If you have found this publication of interest and would like to know more or wish to obtain legal advice relevant to your circumstances please contact one of the named individuals listed.

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