A pram listed at a fraction of its usual price is the kind of pricing slip that spreads quickly across parent groups and deal sites. Whether the retailer has to honour it depends on where and how the item was bought, and on one legal idea that Citizens Advice calls “fairly tricky”: whether a contract exists yet. This guide sets out what Citizens Advice’s consumer advice pages say about goods advertised at the wrong price, applied to prams and pushchairs. The advice is published in separate versions for England, Scotland and Wales, and this guide applies to those three nations only. This is general information, not legal advice.
In a shop (England, Scotland and Wales)
The three national versions of the advice agree on the basics. A shopper who takes an item to the till and is told the price on the tag or label was a mistake has no right to buy it at the lower price. The advice adds that the shopper can still ask the seller to honour it, and that the same applies to an item seen advertised anywhere at a lower price than the tag. So a pram in a store window with a wrong label is a request, not an entitlement.
Once the item has been paid for, the position changes. If a shop sold the item for less than intended, the advice says the buyer does not have to give it back. It says the shop is legally entitled to ask for more money only if the price had been discussed and the shop ended up charging far less, for example a £100 price discussed and £10 charged. If a shopper finds they have paid more than the advertised price at the time, they can return the item in its original condition and ask for a refund, which the shop must give. Alternatively they can keep it and ask for the difference back. The advice recommends keeping any evidence of the mistake, such as a photo of the advert in the shop window.
Online: everything depends on the contract (England, Scotland and Wales)
For online orders, the advice says the answer turns on whether the buyer has a contract yet. Depending on the company’s terms and conditions, the contract begins either when the buyer has paid or when the company has sent the item. Because that varies, the advice tells buyers to find the retailer’s terms and conditions to see where they stand, and says it may be too tricky to work out alone.
- If there is a contract: the company cannot usually cancel the order even if it realises it sold the item at the wrong price. It can cancel only if the pricing was a genuine and honest mistake that the buyer should have noticed.
- If there is no contract yet: a company that realises it quoted the wrong price can cancel the order.
The “should have noticed” test is a judgement about how obvious the error was, which is why the buyer’s screenshots of the listing matter.
Paying extra fees (UK)
The advice also notes that a buyer who orders from a business based outside the UK might have to pay VAT, customs duty or delivery fees, which the delivery company bills separately. A low advertised pram price from an overseas website can therefore end up higher on delivery. The site’s guide to buying a pram from an overseas website explains the VAT and duty position.
Steps if a price looks wrong (England, Scotland and Wales)
- Take screenshots of the product page, basket and confirmation email, including the date and price.
- Read the seller’s terms on when a contract forms.
- If the business seems to be deliberately misleading shoppers, the advice says it can be reported to Trading Standards.
- For unresolved disputes, the Citizens Advice consumer service (England and Wales) or Advice Direct Scotland’s consumer service (Scotland) can help, as the respective pages state.
Where a pram was paid for by card, the site’s guide to Section 75 and chargeback explains further protection if a retailer takes a payment and then does not supply the goods.
Frequently asked questions
Can a shop refuse to sell a pram at the tagged price? According to Citizens Advice, a shopper has no right to the lower price if the tag is a mistake, though they can ask.
Can an online retailer cancel after taking payment? It depends on whether a contract exists; where it does, cancellation is usually possible only for a genuine, honest mistake that the buyer should have noticed.
What if I was undercharged after buying? Citizens Advice says the buyer does not have to give the item back, subject to the price-discussion exception described above.
The bottom line
A wrong price tag does not oblige a shop to sell a pram cheaply, and an online retailer’s power to cancel depends on whether a contract exists. Keep screenshots, read the seller’s terms and act quickly if an order is cancelled.