Clothing site Avenue.com hit with lawsuit over phantom markdowns

Avenue.com class action overview:

• Who: Plaintiff Annette Cody filed a class action lawsuit against FullBeauty Brands Inc., doing business as www.avenue.com.
• Why: The plaintiff alleges FullBeauty Brands uses fake discounts to entice consumers to make purchases.
• Where: The Avene.com class action was filed in California state court.

A new class action lawsuit accuses the company behind Avenue.com of using fake discounts to entice consumers to make purchases.

Plaintiff Annette Cody filed the class action complaint against FullBeauty Brands in California state court, alleging violations of state consumer laws.

According to the class action lawsuit, FullBeauty Brands advertises fictitious regular prices and corresponding phantom discounts on products sold through its website at Avenue.com.

The lawsuit claims this practice allows the company to fabricate a fake “reference price” and present the actual price as “discounted” when it is not, resulting in a sham price disparity that is illegal under California law.

Class action says Avenue.com inflates prices to mislead consumers

Cody alleges she purchased a V Cut Out Top from Avenue.com for a “discounted” price of $9.98, which was compared to a “strike-through” reference price of $59.95. 

However, Cody claims the reference price was not the “prevailing market price” in the 90 days preceding the purchase, and the advertisement did not clearly state the date when the reference price was the prevailing market price.

Cody alleges Avenue.com’s pricing and advertising practices are deceptive and intended to mislead customers into believing they are getting a bargain.

Cody’s counsel monitored the product’s sales price on Avenue.com and confirmed that the product was not offered for sale at the reference price during the relevant period, she adds.

The complaint alleges Avenue.com knows the prices for its products are fake and artificially inflated and intentionally uses them in a deceptive pricing scheme to increase sales and profits by misleading consumers to believe they are buying products at a substantial discount.

Cody seeks damages and restitution, arguing that she has no adequate remedy at law. She also seeks an injunction to prevent future harm, saying she would purchase products from Avenue.com again if she could trust that the company’s regular prices accurately reflected former prices and the market value of the products.

Similarly, clothing retailer Akira faced a class action lawsuit alleging it used false reference prices to mislead consumers into believing they were getting a discount when they were not.

What do you think of the allegations made in this Avenue.com class action? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Scott J. Ferrell and Victoria C. Knowles of Pacific Trial Attorneys APC.

The Avenue.com class action lawsuit is Cody v. FullBeauty Brands Inc., Case No. 5:25-cv-01334-KK-SHK, in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of Riverside.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Judge allows Crocs class action to proceed in part
• Shein class action alleges company hid paid influencer promotions
• Nike sued for allegedly selling unregistered NFTs, abandoning project
• Class action says True Classic Tees tacks on hidden shipping fees