Kogan has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay a $350,000 penalty for making false or misleading representations about a promo it ran in 2018.
The online retailer was found guilty in July 2020 of breaching Australian Consumer Law after Kogan was found to have increased the prices of more than 600 products by at least 10 percent ahead of its ‘tax time’ promotion in 2018.
The promotion advertised a 10 percent reduction through the code ‘TAXTIME’ upon checkout. The 10 percent increase to the prices were then removed after the promotion ended.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took Kogan to court in May 2019. The Federal Court sided with ACCC in July 2020.
In the court ruling, Justice Davies said, “Kogan’s contravening conduct must be viewed as serious, as misrepresentations about discounts offered on products not only harm purchasers acquiring such products on the basis that they are getting a genuine discount but also may impact on consumer confidence in discount promotions when legitimately made – that is, when products are being offered for sale with a genuine discount on price.”
ACCC chair Rod Sims said, “This decision sends a strong signal to businesses like Kogan, which regularly conduct online sales promotions, that they must not entice consumers to purchase products with a promise of discounts that are not genuine.”
Kogan was also ordered to pay the ACCC’s costs of the proceedings.
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