PriceProof · Compliance guide
Since the Omnibus Directive, every advertised price reduction in the EU must show the lowest price from the previous 30 days as the “before” price — plus the all-in price (incl. unavoidable fees) up front, no invented reference prices, and no fake countdowns. Check your sale pages in 60 seconds.
This rule applies if you advertise discounts or sale prices to consumers in the EU or UK. Run sales or discounts into the EU? The “before” price must be the lowest from the last 30 days — with no fake urgency, hidden fees or invented reference prices. Not sure? The free checker tells you in about a minute — no signup.
In practice, PriceProof's checker looks at whether you can answer "yes" to each of these. Each one is a place sellers commonly get caught:
⚠️ Exposure: fines up to 4% of annual turnover (Omnibus Dir. 2019/2161) — or €2M where turnover is unknown. Status: In force.
Statutory maximums are worst-case ceilings, not a prediction — but they're why this is worth ten minutes now. Compare the penalty for every rule →
Under Article 6a of the Price Indication Directive (added by the Omnibus Directive, applicable from 28 May 2022), when you announce a price reduction you must show — as the reference “before” price — the lowest price you applied to that item in the 30 days before the reduction. It stops traders inflating the reference price to fake a bigger discount.
If you advertise prices and sell to consumers in the EU (or the UK, which has equivalent rules), they apply regardless of where you're based — the test is your customer's location, not yours.
Inflating a “was” price, inventing an RRP you never charged, hiding unavoidable fees until late in checkout (“drip pricing”), and false urgency such as fake countdown timers or untrue “only 2 left” claims — all are misleading practices under the UCPD, on top of the Article 6a prior-price rule.
RuleGoose checks this against the EU Price Indication Directive 98/6/EC (Art. 6a, as amended by Omnibus Dir. (EU) 2019/2161) + the UCPD 2005/29/EC. Read it yourself: EUR-Lex — Directive 98/6/EC (Art. 6a) →
see the penalty for every rule, or get one RuleGoose Score across every rule that applies to you.
This is an EU rule, but it can still apply to you if you sell to EU customers — wherever your business is registered. See what it means for where you're based:
Informational only, not legal advice, and not affiliated with the EU. Last reviewed 2026-06-30.