How do I reduce my discount percentage, Clothing UK?

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Wonderful_Use_9207@reddit

Nah, you don’t have to keep it at 60%. Just be honest with pricing. Drop it to 40–50% or bundle stuff together sometimes less discount actually sells better

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Lonely-Job484@reddit

A company can't change the price for existing orders, but absolutely can end the sale and revert the prices for new sales to 'normal'.

But you work for them, rather than this being a business you own? So surely unless you're employed to be in charge of pricing/sales (and so should know the rules!) this isn't your call?

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AdAffectionate2282@reddit (OP)

@zmech was advertising it as a everything 60% off and that has come to an end now therefore would like to change prices to different discount brackets

I was told you that this is not possible, once it’s 60% it can go to 70% but never back to 50%

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VerbingNoun413@reddit

Told by whom? A customer? ChatGPT? Shannon from the nail place?

A business can charge what they want (yes, there are exceptions but clothing is not one of them). A customer can choose to purchase it or not.

When it comes to advertising discounts, there are trading laws where the product must actually have be sold at the "full" price. But there's no law against reducing a discount- if you want to sell the products at 30% off instead, that's up to you. Though if you have loads left at 60% off, this is probably a bad idea.

Legal doesn't change how jobs work though. If your manager has told you to do this, refusing legitimate instructions will get you disciplined or potentially dismissed.

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AdAffectionate2282@reddit (OP)

u/VerbingNoun413 This is the timeline
Feb - Apr | Products sold at Full price
May - June | Reduced to 30% Mid Season (Promo)
July - Present | Reduced to 60% (EOSS)
Future - Reduce to brackets of 40/50/60 to save valuable margin

Thankfully this isn't a set instruction by management, we are unsure on if we can reduce discounts, if we can we will as its beneficial for us

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calvinmeek@reddit

I think it’s on the edge of legality. I would be clear when they were last at full price. Ie on the posters write “full price from Feb 25 to April 25” and “50% off full price” or similar just to cover your back.

You can speak to your local trading standards who will advise.

If you are not the owner or management I would definitely get their sign off first though before actioning or selling anything.

Equally, if they didn’t sell at 60% off they definitely won’t sell at 40% off. Unless they are about to come into their season ie Halloween Tees or Christmas sweater. If they are a tee saying Summer 2025, might be best just to get it gone. It’s always a balance with margin vs sales.

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VerbingNoun413@reddit

This sounds like you don't understand how clearance works. It's a common misconception.

You're comparing the sale at a big discount with the original cost. If you had a magic wand that turned the clothes into the money you invested in them, that'd make sense. You don't though. Your options are:

Sell the product at a discount, potentially low profit or even a loss. This earns you revenue
Retain the seasonal product in the hope of selling it. This takes up valuable storage space that you could instead use for something that makes money
Dispose of the product. This costs you money and earns nothing

You can see this in action if you go to bargain stores- they're dumping their garden stuff for low prices.

I'd strongly suggest running your idea by management rather than Reddit.

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Tim-Sanchez@reddit

Why do you want to change it though? If that's their pricing policy then surely it's easier to sell at a higher discount?

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AdAffectionate2282@reddit (OP)

u/Tim-Sanchez Easier to sell yes but I have pretty much no margins coming from it & would like to save margins, I don't have the need to sell through at such low margins

I was told that going from 60% to 40% or lower was illegal as the law in the UK says you can only increase discounts never decrease

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lxgrf@reddit

You could put it to full price if you wanted. Sales end.

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scotchlondon@reddit

If you haven’t shifted it at 60% then you aren’t going to shift it at 50% or 40% especially when it’s out of season. how do you think and regular visitors to your site will perceive you if they pick up on this? How much is it going to cost you to store this stock for another year? How much of the stock is going to be sellable if it is sitting for a period of time?

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lxgrf@reddit

I’m not familiar with the clothing industry but… why on earth wouldn’t you be able to?

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Alternative-Emu2000@reddit

It seems like they're going to continue advertising the items as being 60% off, but not apply the discount when customers pay.

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AdAffectionate2282@reddit (OP)

I will be advertising it as an "Up to 60%" instead of a "Everything 60% off"

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Alternative-Emu2000@reddit

Are *any* of the items going to be 60% off? If not, you shouldn't be advertising the discount as "up to 60%".

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AdAffectionate2282@reddit (OP)

u/Alternative-Emu2000

I have 100 products

30 products will be at 60%
30 will be at 50%
40 will be at 40%

Advertising changes from "60% Everything" to "Up to 60%"

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Sharktistic@reddit

Will any items actually be 60% off?

Is each item going to have it's price adjusted according to the percentage you have applied?

If an item is £10, and you're advertising 'up to 60% off', is the item going to have a label showing it's actual reduction or does the customer have to get to the checkout and hope for the best?

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AdAffectionate2282@reddit (OP)

u/Sharktistic I will be changing it to an "Up to 60% off"

Some items will be at 60% off, some will be reduced to 50% off and lower

In both cases It will clearly show, Before & After price on the product page prior to checkout, no surprises

Eg: Was £100, Now £40, (60%)
Was £90, Now £45 (50%)

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Sharktistic@reddit

In that case you should be perfectly fine.

Assuming that they're your items to sell, or that you have the authority to adjust prices, then you can set the price at pretty much anything you want, when you want, as long as not contract for sale has been formed between the price changes.

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lxgrf@reddit

And is that an accurate representation of the sale? Or would people find that misleading?

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Master-Trick2850@reddit

OP would literally rather sit on dead merchandise than continue to sell it cheaply

And thats why supermarkets still have DVDs on their shelves

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AdAffectionate2282@reddit (OP)

I was told that once a product is marked down, then legally you cannot increase the price unless it’s being put to full price

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Tuarangi@reddit

Generally if it's a sale, you can put the price back up after the sale ends, that's what firms do all the time

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Bayff@reddit

If the sale is over, it’s over, Wdym?

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ZMech@reddit

You'd probably have better luck asking this in r/LegalAdviceUK.

The question is a bit confusing though. You still have stock left, so you want to increase the price? I don't understand the reasoning, since that would surely mean you sell less of it.

I'd guess it might also depend on if you've promoted the sale as everything being 60% off, or just up to 60% off.

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VerbingNoun413@reddit

Why do you believe you have to sell it 60% off? Did a manager tell you or do you actually think it's the law?

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