Sports Warehouse Class Action Says Online Sale Prices are Fake

A class action lawsuit filed against Sports Warehouse alleges that the company advertises numerous sales on its various sports equipment websites that are misleading.

The complaint states that the “sale” prices are supposedly marked down from advertised “former retail prices,” but the items were never actually offered at those marked up prices.

“The purported former prices are not the prevailing market prices within the three months preceding the publication and dissemination of the advertised former prices, as required by California law,” the class action asserts.

The misleading “sale” price class action lawsuit states that Sports Warehouse operates numerous online websites as clearinghouses for sports equipment. These websites include: Tennis-Warehouse.com, RacquetballWarehouse.com, TotalPickleball.com, RidingWarehouse.com, DerbyWarehouse.com, IceWarehouse.com, and InlineWarehouse.com.

The class action contends that on each of these websites Sports Warehouse has made misleading and deceptive claims of “sale” prices for the past four years. According to the complaint, Sports Warehouse lists a “was” price or a “manufacturer’s suggested retail price” (MSRP) for items on its website that is inflated and misleading. Moreover, the complaint cites numerous consumer studies that show those reference prices are material, or important, to consumers.

The Sports Warehouse class action also cites Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules as allowing the “commonly used” advertising based on “former price,” but only if “the former price is an actual, bona fide price at which the article was offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time.”

However, the FTC continues that “[i]f, on the other hand, the former price being advertised is not bona fide but fictitious—for example, where an artificial price, inflated price was established for the purpose of enabling the subsequent offer of a large reduction…[t]he ‘bargain’ being advertised is a false one[.]” That is exactly what the misleading price class action alleges Sports Warehouse has done.

Plaintiff Matt McDuffee states that he purchased a tennis racquet from Tennis-Warehouse.com in October of 2016. McDuffee saw that the racquet “was: $179” but was now on “sale” in bright red text on the website for $129.

McDuffee claims that he thought he was saving $50 on the price of the racquet, and relied on that advertising when he purchased it. The complaint alleges that in fact, Sports Warehouse had not offered the racquet at the $179 price point “for at least a year if not longer.”

The misleading online “sale” price lawsuit requests certification of a Class of “[a]ll persons who (1) purchased merchandise from Defendant that was advertised in relation to a purported former price introduced with the word ‘Was’ proximate to the ‘Sale’ price of the item, and (2) who was a California resident at the time of the purchase, and (3) made his or her purchase from four years prior to the filing of this lawsuit to the present.”

The class action seeks restitution and damages, including statutory and punitive damages under California consumer protection law. In addition, the plaintiff is seeking an injunction to stop Sports Warehouse from its false and deceptive advertising.

McDuffee is represented by Anthony J. Orshansky and Justin Kachadoorian of CounselOne PC.

The Sports Warehouse Misleading “Sale” Price Class Action Lawsuit is Matt McDuffee v. Sports Warehouse, Case No. 3:17-cv-00512, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: April 2018, the California Sports Warehouse fake sale class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.