Was/now and sale price claims for health services and products

“Was $600, now $399.” “A $1,200 value.” “20 percent off our regular price.” “Below the manufacturer’s suggested price.” Practices that sell cash-pay services, packages or retail products use these lines all the time, in ads, on service pages, in emails and on the shelf by the front desk. Each one is a comparison, and each comparison makes a factual claim about a second price. If that second price is not real, the bargain is not real either.

The FTC has written guides on exactly these comparisons. This guide reads the first three sections, on former prices, prices elsewhere and comparable value, and manufacturers’ suggested prices, and applies them to the offers a dental office, med spa, chiropractic or integrative clinic runs. For stating a price in the first place, see advertising cash prices. For time-limited sales, see holiday and limited-time procedure sales. Dental offices running whitening specials can find free whitening and whitening for life offers covered in our guide to cosmetic dentistry marketing.

The short version

• A former price has to be real. Under 16 CFR 233.1(a), a reduction from your own former price is a legitimate comparison when that price was the actual, bona fide price at which the item was offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time.
• No sales at the old price is not automatically a problem. Section 233.1(b) says a former price is not necessarily fictitious because nobody bought at it, but it must have been openly and actively offered, in good faith, in the recent regular course of business.
• “Formerly sold at” is a stronger claim. The same section says to avoid implying that a former price was a selling price, not just an asking price, unless substantial sales were actually made at it.
• A “sale” needs a real reduction. When no amount is stated, 233.1(e) says the reduction should not be so small as to be meaningless.
• “Value” and “elsewhere” claims need local evidence. Sections 233.2 and 233.3 tie price-elsewhere, comparable value and suggested retail price claims to prices at which substantial sales are made in your trade area.
• Google checks the landing page. Its asset policies require products and services to be priced accurately, easily found at the destination and consistent with the ad.

Former price comparisons: “was” and “regularly”

Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 45(a)(1), declares unfair or deceptive acts or practices unlawful, and the pricing guides in part 233 explain how that applies to bargain claims. Section 233.1 starts with the most common one: a reduction from the advertiser’s own former price. The guide’s test has four parts. The former price was the actual price offered, it was offered to the public, it was offered on a regular basis, and it was offered for a reasonably substantial period of time.

The guide’s example of a fictitious former price is a retailer who raises a pen from its usual $7.50 to $10 for a few days, knowing almost nobody will buy, and then advertises “Were $10, Now Only $7.50.” Section 233.1(d) adds other versions: a price never actually offered, a price not used in the regular course of business, a price from the remote past used without saying so, a price not openly offered to the public, and a price not kept for a reasonable time before being cut.

For a practice, the practical versions are:

• A treatment list price set high when a new service launches, then “reduced” in a grand opening ad before anyone was offered it at the higher price.
• A “regular price” on the website that the front desk never quotes because every caller is offered the special.
• A former price from a year or more ago, before a fee schedule change, used in a current “was/now” ad without saying when it applied.
• A package that is “reduced” from the sum of single-visit prices that the practice does not actually sell on their own.

Section 233.1(e) covers wording. If the former price appears in the ad, with or without words like “Regularly,” “Usually” or “Formerly,” it must not be fictitious. If the ad says only “Sale” without an amount, the reduction should be large enough that a person who knew it would see a genuine saving. The guide’s example is “Reduced to $9.99” when the former price was $10.

Asking price or selling price

Section 233.1(b) makes a distinction that matters for services with few sales at list price. A former price is not necessarily fictitious just because no sales were made at it. But the advertiser should be especially careful that the price was openly and actively offered for a reasonably substantial period, in the recent regular course of business, honestly and in good faith. And it should avoid any implication that the former price was a selling price, as in “Formerly sold at,” unless substantial sales at that price were actually made.

So “Regularly $500” and “Patients paid $500 before this offer” are different claims. The first needs a price that was genuinely offered. The second needs evidence that a substantial number of patients actually paid it. If most patients have been receiving a discount, a membership rate or a package rate, the list price may still be an asking price, but it is not what most people paid, and the ad should not suggest it was.

“Price elsewhere” and “value” claims

Section 233.2 covers two related comparisons. The first is a claim that you charge less than others in your trade area for the same item. The guide says the advertiser should be reasonably certain that the higher price it advertises does not appreciably exceed the price at which substantial sales of the item are being made in the area. Its example: “Retail Value $15.00, My Price $7.50” is deceptive when only a few small outlets charge $15 and the larger ones charge about $7.50.

The second, in 233.2(c), is a comparison with other items of like grade and quality, often written as “comparable value.” The guide says this can be legitimate when it is made clear that the comparison is with other merchandise, and that merchandise is of essentially similar quality and obtainable in the area. The price used must not exceed what representative outlets in the area charge for it.

Practices use “value” claims often, especially in bundles: “a $1,200 value for $799,” “free consultation, a $150 value.” Reading 233.2 against those lines, a practice should be able to show where the stated value comes from. If it is the practice’s own regular price for the same service, that is a former price claim under 233.1. If it is what other local practices charge, the practice needs a reasonable basis that substantial sales happen at that price in its area, for an essentially similar service. A figure picked because it sounds right has no basis in either section. For offers built on the word free, see free consultation offers.

Manufacturers’ suggested prices for retail products

Section 233.3 covers list prices and suggested retail prices set by a manufacturer or distributor. Practices that sell skincare, supplements, eyewear, oral care, braces and supports or home devices see these on price lists and packaging. The guide notes that many people believe a list price is the price at which the item is generally sold, so a reduction from it reads as a bargain, and that list prices are often not followed.

A list price is not fictitious, the guide says in 233.3(d), if it is the price at which substantial sales are made in the advertiser’s trade area. Section 233.3(e) puts the duty on the retailer: before advertising a list price as a comparison, a local retailer should find out whether that price is in fact regularly charged by principal outlets in its area. If only a small share of sales happen at the list price, 233.3(f) says advertising it would be deceptive. And 233.3(i) says no one may set an inflated list price to create a basis for a fictitious reduction.

For a practice retail shelf or online store, that means “MSRP $68, our price $54” is only safe if the practice has checked that principal sellers near it actually charge $68. If the product is mostly sold below the suggested price, compare to your own real former price instead, or simply state your price. Our guides to supplement sales in practices and Made in USA claims cover other claims on practice products.

Sale prices in Google Ads

Google applies its own rules on top of the law. Its Promotion asset requirements say products or services should be priced accurately, easily found at the ad’s destination and match the headers and descriptions, referring to the Unavailable offers policy. The promo code field may contain only a promo code. Its Price asset requirements do not allow price information or promotional text, such as “Sale,” in the header or description, and require asset URLs to lead to the same final URL domain as the ad.

In practice: the landing page should show the same sale price, the same former price or reduction and the same end date as the ad, and the ad and its assets should come down or be edited when the sale ends. See Google Ads for practices and healthcare landing pages.

Keep the evidence

Every comparison price is a claim the practice may need to back up later. The guides do not set a record format, but they test facts that only records can show: when a price was offered, whether it was offered to the public, how long it ran, whether sales were made at it, and what other sellers in the area charge. Keep these with the ad, as part of your advertising records:

• The dated fee schedule or price list showing the former price and the dates it was in effect.
• Screenshots of the website or price page showing the former price was offered to the public.
• A count of how many patients or buyers paid the former price, if the ad says or implies people paid it.
• For “value” or “elsewhere” claims, dated notes on what principal local sellers charge for the same or an essentially similar service or product, and where the figures came from.
• For retail products with a suggested price, dated checks of what principal sellers in your area charge.
• Each version of the ad, landing page and Google Ads assets, with the dates they ran.

Use and avoid

• Use: “Regularly $450, $360 through March 31” when $450 has been the posted, quoted price for months. Avoid: a $450 price posted for a week so a sale can start from it.
• Use: “Introductory price $299” for a new service. Avoid: “Was $499, now $299” for a service never offered at $499.
• Use: “Save $150 compared with booking each visit separately” when single visits are sold at those prices. Avoid: a package “value” built from single-visit prices nobody is offered.
• Use: your own price, stated plainly, when you have not checked local prices. Avoid: “$1,200 value” or “priced elsewhere at” figures with no local evidence.
• Use: “Sale” only with a reduction a patient would see as real. Avoid: “Reduced” for a price cut of a few dollars.

An illustration

This is a made-up example, not a client. A chiropractic clinic adds a new decompression package and lists it on the website at $1,500. Within two weeks, before any patient has been quoted that price, the clinic runs social ads for “$1,500 package, now $900.” The front desk script offers only the $900 price. The ad also calls the free first visit “a $200 value,” a figure chosen because it seemed reasonable.

Under 233.1, the $1,500 was never the price at which the package was offered on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period, so the comparison is fictitious. The “$200 value” has no basis in either the clinic’s own regular price or local prices. The clinic could advertise the package at $900 as its price, or as an introductory price with an end date, and either drop the value figure for the first visit or base it on the price it actually charges for that visit.

How we help

We write offer ads, landing pages and lead generation campaigns for independent practices, and we keep the dated price records behind each comparison with the ad. We also build websites, local search and an AI front desk that quotes the same prices as the ad. We are not a healthcare provider and we do not give legal or medical advice. Related guides: bait and switch in healthcare ads, fake urgency and countdown timers, price matching and competitor coupons, all-in pricing laws and our guide to healthcare marketing rules.

Sources

• 16 CFR Part 233: Guides Against Deceptive Pricing (sections 233.1 to 233.3)
• 15 U.S.C. 45: Unfair methods of competition unlawful; prevention by Commission
• Google Ads: Promotion asset requirements
• Google Ads: Price asset requirements

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