Ad description
Claims on the Sharnam Art product page on the Amazon website stated "Sharnam Art Jewellery Necklace ... Price: £0.01 + £10.49 UK delivery".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the delivery charge was misleading because he believed it had been inflated to cover the cost of the product.
Response
Sharnam Art said they sold some items for £0.01 to promote their online store and suggested that the policy was a loss leader. They said they did not cover the cost of the necklace in the shipping cost and, in fact, sometimes had to pay a higher shipping cost than that charged to the customer. They said the delivery charge also included packaging, handling and processing. They sent copies of invoices from their couriers to show that the delivery charges were genuine.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted the invoices only showed the delivery costs in rupees and none of the delivery costs equalled £10.49. Furthermore, those invoices did not demonstrate whether the goods posted were ones which had been advertised for sale at £0.01. We considered the invoices we had seen were insufficient to demonstrate the true cost of delivery for the necklace was £10.49 as claimed in the ad and that it had not been increased to cover its cost. We therefore concluded that the claim "Price: £0.01 + £10.49 UK delivery" had not been substantiated and was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising), 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation) and 3.17 3.17 Price statements must not mislead by omission, undue emphasis or distortion. They must relate to the product featured in the marketing communication. (Prices).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Sharnam Art to ensure that quoted delivery charges reflected the true cost of delivery.
