Online beds retailer Happy Beds has been told to clarify future price comparisons in adverts to not mislead by falsely claiming a price advantage.

A page on the Happy Beds website, www.happybeds.co.uk, seen in August 2022, listed a child’s bed frame and featured text stating, “Milo Grey Wooden Mid Sleeper Kids Bed Frame – 3ft Single £845.98 NOW £469.99 Save £376”.

A single complainant, who understood that the bed had not been sold at the original higher price, challenged whether the savings claim could be substantiated and was misleading.

In response, Happy Beds explained that the higher price was the RRP price provided by the supplier or manufacturer. They said they were an online retailer only and therefore the RRPs were not set by them. They supplied a number of links to other retailers with a similar RRP. They said the links confirmed that the before price was set by the manufacturer and not Happy Beds.

They also provided two anonymised receipts showing the product had been sold for £845.98 in February 2022 and May 2022.

However, following an investigation, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), considered the evidence provided by Happy Beds but needed more to show that £845.98 was the price at which the product was generally sold across a number of retailers.

“The listing had made an explicit comparison with the RRP, stating that a consumer would save £376 on the RRP. However, because we had not seen sufficient evidence that the product had been generally sold at that price we concluded that the ad was misleading,” the ASA said.

“The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Happy Beds Ltd that future price comparisons in ads should not mislead by falsely claiming a price advantage. Savings against RRPs should only be displayed if it can be evidenced that the product had been generally sold at that price.”