Madewell hit with class action over alleged fake sales, inflated reference prices

Madewell class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiff Poonam Gupta filed a class action lawsuit against Madewell Inc.
• Why: Gupta claims Madewell advertises fake discounts on its website.
• Where: The Madewell class action lawsuit was filed in California state court.

A new class action lawsuit accuses Madewell of falsely advertising that certain items are on sale or discounted when they are not.

Plaintiff Poonam Gupta claims Madewell misleads its customers by advertising products on its website at a sale or discounted price from a higher advertised “reference price.”

“Madewell advertises the products with false, misleading and inflated comparison reference prices to deceive customers into believing the sale price is a genuine, discounted price,” the Madewell class action lawsuit says.

Gupta wants to represent a California class of consumers who purchased any products from Madewell’s website while in the state at a purported discount from a higher reference price during the applicable limitations period.

Madewell ‘inflates’ reference prices to lure consumers, class action alleges

Gupta argues Madewell’s purported “sale items” have not been available on its website at the advertised reference price in the recent past for a substantial time.

“Nonetheless, Madewell uses inflated reference prices, sometimes called ‘strikethrough pricing’ — in which a purported reference price is crossed off and a new ‘discounted’ price shown,” the Madewell class action lawsuit says.

Gupta claims the practice tricks consumers into believing that the products are being offered at a discount and had previously been sold on the website at the former and regular price, in the recent past, for a substantial period of time.

“Madewell inflates the reference prices to lure consumers into purchasing products they would not otherwise have purchased or to pay more than they would have paid had Madewell not inflated the reference price,” the Madewell class action lawsuit says.

Gupta’s class action lawsuit says Madewell is guilty of unjust enrichment/quasi-contract and negligent misrepresentation and of violating California’s False Advertising Law, Consumers Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law.

Gupta demands a jury trial and requests declaratory and injunctive relief and an award of compensatory, statutory and punitive damages for class members.

Earlier this year, Best Buy was hit with a lawsuit also claiming it used fake reference prices with discounts on certain products, especially its Insignia band.

Have you ever purchased something from Madewell’s website? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Matthew W. Ruan, Jonathan M. Jagher and Nicholas R. Lange of Freed Kanner London & Millen LLC.

The Madewell class action lawsuit is Gupta v. Madewell Inc., Case No. 3:26-cv-04247, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Francisco.

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