Price Tag Information - Fact or Fiction?

There is a growing sense among consumers that the prices they are seeing on store shelves are not what they seem.

The Korea Consumer Protection Board (KCPB) recently released its findings which looked at 1,547 products on offer on the market, and detected, on average, a 24.7 percent difference in the printed suggested retail price and the actual selling price of the item in question. By law, all products on offer must be accompanied by a tag showing the suggested retail price and the wholesale price. Retailers, however, may also add their own price which is usually lower than the suggested retail price found on the tag.

Watches showed the largest discrepancy in the printed retail price and the actual price at 36.6 percent. Personal Digital Assistants or PDA like the popular Palm Mate saw price differences of 36.2 percent. Also, cameras (32.5 percent) and microwaves(28.4 percent) were other goods showing big gaps.

To alleviate growing consumer distrust of the information printed on the required price tag system, the KCPB is presently looking into listing products which regularly see price gaps in excess of 20 percent as 'open price' goods. Proposed goods to be listed as open price items will be electric shavers, stereos, walkmans, air conditioners, and beds in addition to the previously mentioned goods.

by Yu Ji-sang