Three retailers each paid $19,800 for this exact wording. Here is what went wrong, and why it usually happens by accident.
Updated August 2026 · sources linked throughout
If the banner says the whole shop, the whole shop has to be in it — or the exclusions have to be as prominent as the claim.
On 11 June 2025 the ACCC issued infringement notices to three Australian retailers over Black Friday claims. None of them were about fake "was" prices. All three were about scope.
| Retailer | The claim | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Hill | "Member Event 25% off Sitewide" | $19,800 |
| MyHouse | "Black Friday Up to 60% Off Sitewide + EXTRA 20% off" | $19,800 |
| Hairhouse Online | "SAVE 20% to 50% SITEWIDE" | $19,800 |
In the Hairhouse matter, more than a quarter of products were excluded. In the MyHouse matter the extra 20% did not apply to everything. In the Michael Hill matter some products were not discounted at all.
No published threshold exists. The ACCC has never said "sitewide is fine at 90% coverage". What the enforcement record shows is that a quarter of the catalogue excluded was enough to attract a notice, and that the problem is the gap between the claim and the catalogue rather than any particular number.
The practical test is simpler than a percentage. Read your banner as a customer who has never seen your shop, then open a random handful of products. If a reasonable person would be surprised, the banner is doing too much work.
| Instead of | Consider |
|---|---|
| 30% off sitewide | 30% off full-price styles — sale items excluded |
| Up to 60% off everything | Up to 60% off — over 400 styles reduced |
| Storewide sale | Sale across [named categories] |
The second column is not weaker. It is more specific, which is both more defensible and, in most tests, more believable.
Almost nobody sets out to overstate a sale. What happens is that the banner is set once at the start of the campaign, and then products get added, restocked or have their discount removed one at a time over the following weeks. Nobody re-counts. By the second week the banner and the catalogue have quietly drifted apart, and the person who wrote the banner is not the person who edits products.
The ACCC's April 2026 sweep reviewed 50 retailers and found around half making concerning claims. It runs the sweep every year, and the year before produced the three notices above.
Yes, if the discount genuinely applies across the site. Where products are excluded, the ACCC's concern is that the exclusions must be disclosed as prominently as the headline claim rather than buried in fine print. Three Australian retailers each paid $19,800 in June 2025 over sitewide claims that did not apply to their whole catalogue.
No threshold has been published by the ACCC. The enforcement record shows exclusions of more than a quarter of the catalogue attracting an infringement notice, but there is no stated safe harbour, and the test is whether the overall impression misleads.
The ACCC's concern in these matters was fine print that contradicted the headline. Practically that means the qualification travels with the claim wherever the claim appears, including the announcement bar, ads and email, rather than living only on a terms page.
It is a recognised form, but the ACCC's Black Friday sweep specifically named 'up to X% off' claims where few products qualify and the qualification is not prominent. If almost nothing reaches the headline figure, the headline figure is doing the misleading.
An infringement notice for a body corporate is $21,840 from 1 July 2026, and $218,400 for a listed corporation. Court proceedings carry far higher maximums: the greater of $100 million, three times the benefit, or 30% of adjusted turnover.
How long can a 'was' price stay up? · Are countdown timers illegal in Australia? · ACCC Black Friday pricing rules · The eight-point pricing checklist · What must a furniture listing say about anchoring?
Every figure on this page traces to one of these. If any of it is
wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
ACCC — price displays guidance ·
ACCC — pricing for business ·
ACCC — sitewide claim penalties, June 2025 ·
ACCC — Black Friday sweep findings, April 2026 ·
ACCC — strikethrough pricing penalties, June 2026 ·
ACCC — 2026-27 enforcement priorities