Flyers
Sale advertising rules in Australia for flyers and posts
In Australia a sale flyer must not mislead: a was price has to be one the item genuinely sold at for a reasonable period right before the sale, a displayed price must be the full total, limited stock has to be disclosed, and fine print cannot contradict the headline. These rules come from the Australian Consumer Law and apply the same way to a printed flyer, a shop window and a social post.
Indunil Asanka · Co-founder
6 min read · Published
A sale flyer has one job, which is to make a price look like an opportunity. That is exactly why the rules around it are strict. The Australian Consumer Law does not tell you how to design a sale, but it does decide what a percentage, a was price, a closing date or the word free is allowed to mean. This guide works through the claims sale flyers make most, with a real example for each. It is general information, not legal advice.
Was and now prices
A two price comparison is the most common sale claim and the one most worth getting right. The ACCC’s price display guidance says it is misleading to state that a sale price is marked down from an earlier price when the item was not sold at that earlier price for a reasonable period right before the sale started. Its example is blunt: a ticket reading “Was $19.99, now $14.99” is misleading if the item was never offered at $19.99.
The same guidance applies to recommended retail prices. Comparing your price to an RRP the product was never sold at, or was not sold at for a reasonable period before the sale, is misleading too.
The clearance sale flyer example shows a was and now table done carefully. Sprocket & Pine lists seven bike models with the old price, the clearance price and the sizes still on the floor, such as a road bike at $1,899 now $1,299 in two sizes. The sizes column matters as much as the prices, because a clearance that implies wide stock when one medium is left starts to look like bait.
Section 29 of the Australian Consumer Law, headed false or misleading representations about goods or services, is where these claims sit.
Percentage off and storewide claims
“Up to 40% off” is a headline that promises a ceiling and invites a reader to assume it applies widely. The ACCC warns that information in fine print must not conflict with the overall message of an advertisement, and gives as an example a storewide discount that excludes products mentioned only in small text.
The winter sale flyer example avoids the problem by never averaging. Kestrel Ridge Outfitters splits its four day stocktake into four categories with a discount against each: jackets thirty percent, boots twenty five, layers twenty, camp sleeping up to forty. Nobody reads “up to forty” and expects it on a jacket.
Dates, deadlines and limited stock
A closing date is a claim of fact. If a sale that ends Sunday quietly runs another week, the urgency was misleading, and misleading or deceptive conduct is prohibited generally by section 18.
Limited stock has its own rule. The ACCC describes bait advertising as promoting prices, often sale prices, on products that are not available or only available in very limited quantities, and says it is acceptable if the business clearly discloses up front that supply is limited or the sale runs for a restricted period. Section 35 is headed bait advertising.
The black friday flyer example does both. Cairn & Creek states the four days, Friday 27 to Monday 30 November, and says that forty percent off tents covers thirty units across the range, with no rainchecks on packs. Its numbered sheet also gives the midnight online opening in AEDT, says the code is one use and cannot be stacked, and names what is excluded: gift cards, hire gear and repairs.
The embedded end of financial year sale flyer example treats its dates as the offer. Calder Workspace organises all three designs around 12 June, the last day to order for installation before year end, and 30 June, and prints both dates at equal size so no buyer mistakes one for the other.
Free, gifts and bonuses
The word free carries more legal weight than any other on a flyer. The ACCC gives “free, conditions apply” as a misleading pattern when the conditions only appear on closer examination, and says conditions should be disclosed prominently.
Gifts with purchase are covered separately. The ACCC says it is illegal to offer a gift, prize or free item to promote sales if the business has no intention of providing it, fails to provide it as offered, or does not provide it within the time specified or a reasonable time. A free gift that needs the customer to pay delivery must say so. Section 32 is headed offering rebates, gifts, prizes and similar. If the bonus is a gift card, it also has to meet the minimum expiry rules explained in gift voucher expiry rules.
The price itself, fine print and GST
The ACCC says businesses must display a total price as a single figure, including taxes, duties and unavoidable or pre selected fees, and that where more than one price is displayed for an item, it must be sold at the lowest price or withdrawn until the price is corrected. Sections 47 and 48 are headed multiple pricing and single price to be specified in certain circumstances.
There is one common exception. NSW Fair Trading’s pricing standards note that the single price rule generally does not apply in business to business transactions, so a statement made exclusively to businesses need not include GST. The Calder Workspace sheet uses that: its quiet three step design says prices are ex GST for ABN holders, and adds that the tax information is general rather than tax advice. A consumer flyer cannot do the same.
Put conditions somewhere a reader will actually see them. The linen sale flyer example keeps its photo poster to three categories and one number, and gives the third design, a plain sheet, a paragraph long enough to explain what the was prices mean, when the sale closes and what happens to a returned sale item.
The table below collects the common claims, the rule each one has to meet and where that rule is set out.
Common mistakes
A was price invented for the sale. If the higher price was never really charged, the comparison is misleading however large the discount.
Exclusions only in the footer. A headline that says storewide and a footnote that excludes three brands contradict each other.
A deadline that moves. Extending a sale is allowed. Advertising a false end date is not.
Free that is not free. If there is a purchase condition or a delivery charge, it belongs next to the word, not under it.
Different prices in the window and online. Two displayed prices for one item means selling at the lower one. What else a flyer needs beyond the price is covered in what to put on a flyer.
Build it
The sale badges page covers the two elements that carry a discount on a flyer: a Badge, a pill filled in the theme’s brand colour, and a Chip, a pill in the accent colour. There are no sticker, starburst or ribbon shapes, and elements cannot be rotated. When a flyer is generated from a brief, the fill instructions forbid inventing prices, dates, phone numbers or statistics, so every figure on the draft should be one you supplied. Check each one against your records anyway. The Instagram and print tutorial shows how to export the same sale as a PNG for a post and a PDF for print.
| Claim on the flyer | The rule | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Was $19.99, now $14.99 | The item must have sold at the was price for a reasonable period right before the sale started | ACCC price display guidance; ACL s29 |
| RRP $249, sale price $179 | Misleading if the item never sold at the RRP, or not for a reasonable period before the sale | ACCC price display guidance; ACL s29 |
| Two different prices for one item | Sell at the lowest displayed price or stop selling until the price is corrected | ACCC price display guidance; ACL s47 |
| A price that leaves out a fee | Show the total, including GST and unavoidable fees, as a single figure | ACCC price display guidance; ACL s48 |
| Prices shown ex GST | Acceptable where the statement is made only to other businesses | NSW Fair Trading pricing standards |
| Storewide or everything reduced | Exclusions in small print must not contradict the overall message | ACCC false or misleading claims guidance |
| Sale prices on limited stock | Disclose the limited supply or the restricted period up front | ACCC false or misleading claims guidance; ACL s35 |
| Free, conditions apply | Conditions must be disclosed prominently, not hidden in fine print | ACCC false or misleading claims guidance |
| Free gift with purchase | Provide it as offered, on time, and disclose any delivery cost | ACCC gifts and prizes guidance; ACL s32 |
| Sale ends Sunday | The date must be true; a sale that quietly continues makes the urgency misleading | ACL s18 misleading or deceptive conduct |
A finished example
Every end of financial year flyer in the country leads with a percentage. Calder Workspace fits offices out, so the number that actually decides whether a buyer orders is not the discount, it is the date a desk has to be built and standing in the room. All three of these designs are organised around 12 June and 30 June, and the reductions come second.
Read the end of financial year sale flyerQuestions people ask
How long must an item sell at the was price?
The ACCC says the item must have been sold at the earlier price for a reasonable period right before the sale started, and does not set a fixed number of days. What counts as reasonable depends on the product and how often its price usually changes. A higher price charged only briefly before a long sale is hard to defend as the genuine earlier price, so keep a record of what each item actually sold for.
Can I say up to 50 percent off?
Say it only if a meaningful range of stock is actually at that discount, and the rest of the headline does not suggest more than the offer delivers. The ACCC warns that fine print must not conflict with the overall message, giving storewide discounts that exclude products named only in small text as an example. If only three items reach the top figure, say which three.
Do these rules apply to Instagram and Facebook posts?
Yes. The Australian Consumer Law applies to representations made in trade or commerce regardless of the medium, so a sale post is held to the same standard as a printed flyer or a shop ticket. A post with no room for conditions should link to them clearly, and the headline itself still has to be accurate without the link.
Do prices on a sale flyer have to include GST?
For consumers, yes. A displayed price must be the total a customer pays, including GST and any unavoidable fees, shown as a single figure. NSW Fair Trading notes that the rule generally does not apply to statements made exclusively to other businesses, which is why a trade flyer can quote prices ex GST if it says so clearly and targets business buyers.
What happens if I print the wrong price?
If more than one price is displayed for an item, the business must sell at the lowest displayed price or stop selling the item until the price is corrected. NSW Fair Trading also notes that a retailer can correct a printed pricing error by publishing a retraction in a publication with a similar circulation to the original advertisement. Pull the flyer as soon as the error is found.
Is this legal advice?
No. This is general information drawn from ACCC and state fair trading guidance and the headings of the Australian Consumer Law. Enforcement turns on the overall impression an advertisement creates, which depends on facts a general guide cannot see. For a large campaign, or a claim you are unsure about, get advice from a lawyer or contact your state fair trading agency before you print.
Written by
Indunil Asanka · Co-founder
Builds the generation pipelines behind OneCraft: the slide, flyer and poster layout engines, the document grid and the render workers that turn a written brief into a finished file.
LinkedIn profileWritten and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .
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