When is a deal really a deal? We tracked prices at Old Navy and Canadian Tire to find out
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If you walk into an Old Navy or browse online, you're bound to find huge discounts offered and hot deals aplenty.
But an investigation by CBC's Marketplace has found some of those bargains are not what they seem.
Marketplace tracked the price of items sold at two major retailers — Old Navy and Canadian Tire — checking to see how often those items went on sale and whether the prices were true discounts. The investigation found multiple examples of Old Navy items that were nearly always on sale.
At Canadian Tire, Marketplace tracked 46 products to see how deep the discounts were during big sales like Boxing Day, Cyber Monday and early Black Friday events and found several items were cheaper on days earlier in the year.
At Old Navy, the team monitored 10 clothing items between May and December 2024.
The team found the Old Navy clothes were on sale for at least half of those seven months, including one item that was on sale the entire time.
Online, there were time-sensitive discounts, but sale prices stayed even after the time ran out.
"Honest and transparent practices go a long way. Trust is really difficult to build and easy to break," said Ying Zhu, an associate professor of management at University of British Columbia's Okanagan Campus.
"They should put themselves in consumers' shoes."
Some of the Old Navy items on sale most often included a ladies' button-down shirt that was discounted 80 per cent of the time, men's shorts that were on sale 98 per cent of the time and a men's T-shirt that was never listed at regular price during the seven months of tracking.
While Old Navy is a brand where customers expect to find deals, Brad Davis said he doesn't agree with the marketing tactics being used.
"I think it's disrespectful to be playing those games with consumers," said the recently retired Wilfrid Laurier University associate professor of marketing.
Some Old Navy advertisements stressed deals were only available for a limited time, but then the deal kept going.
A pair of ladies' biker shorts included a "today only" deal of $14.99 advertised in early July, but the discounted price remained for another two weeks.
Meanwhile, a ladies' shirt was offered for $19.99, featuring a three-day-sale countdown clock. When the sale clock ran out, the price changed — but it didn't go up. In fact, the price dropped by $4 to $15.99.
Zhu said it's clear "there is no deal." Instead, she said, these "sales" can be used as a tactic to manipulate customers into thinking they are saving money and to buy now.
"They use psychological theories to get people to buy things they wouldn't," she said.
She notes that retailers are hoping customers won't go back and check the price of something later if they've already bought it.
"It's sad to see … it's manipulative," Zhu said.
Old Navy and Gap Canada facing class-action lawsuit
Old Navy Canada and Gap Canada Inc. are facing a potential class-action lawsuit that alleges the companies misrepresent the undiscounted price of their inventory. The statement of claim, filed at the Supreme Court of British Columbia in November 2024, hasn't been certified and the allegations haven't been tested in court.
The lawsuit claims the companies are "always" or "almost always" selling apparel products at a "so-called discount."
Justin Giovannetti, a Vancouver-based lawyer with Slater Vecchio, filed the lawsuit and alleges these prices cannot be considered deals because of how often these items go on sale.
"Consumers are thinking that they're purchasing products that have a lot more value than they actually do," he said.
In 2022, the Superior Court of the State of California in the county of San Francisco approved a settlement to a class-action lawsuit against Old Navy that alleged it advertised "false reference prices." Reference prices are also known as the strike-through price.
Old Navy denied the allegations and made no admission of liability or wrongdoing. The class-action law firm in the case — DeNittis, Osefchen, Prince, P.C. — said the settlement benefits amount to $340 million US.
Gap Inc., which owns Old Navy, declined an interview request or to comment on Marketplace 's findings.
The federal Competition Act forbids misleading marketing, including about pricing or whether a deal is truly time sensitive. And Canada's Competition Bureau has rules against deceptive marketing practices to try and protect consumers, but Zhu and other experts say the regulator lacks resources to enforce the rules.
WATCH | What consumers thought of Marketplace's findings:
Shoppers react to Marketplace analysis of Old Navy sales
3 minutes ago
Duration 0:31
Jayme Albert, a spokesperson for the Competition Bureau, said he wouldn't comment on Marketplace 's findings and that the bureau must conduct an investigation before determining if a company has breached the Competition Act. The public is encouraged to report deceptive marketing claims to the regulator's online portal, Albert said.
He said there were 3,427 complaints filed in the 2023-2024 fiscal year related to deceptive marketing practices, several of which related to fake urgency cues and misleading sales claims.
The companies named in the complaints are not publicly disclosed, so it's unclear whether any were about Old Navy or Gap Inc.
Of those complaints, the bureau said five new investigations were opened, 10 were closed and 39 investigations were ongoing at the end of the fiscal year.
The regulator says that for first-time violations under civil provisions, corporations face a maximum penalty of either $10 million — rising to $15 million for subsequent violations — or triple the revenue earned from the deception, or, if the latter can't be calculated, three per cent of the corporation's annual global gross revenue.
Testing Black Friday, Boxing Day and Cyber Monday deals
Marketplace also spent seven months tracking the price of items at Canadian Tire, focusing on comparing advertised sales events — early Black Friday, Black Friday week, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day — with other discounts throughout the year.
After looking at 46 items on the Canadian Tire website from June 2024 to January 2025, Marketplace found 20 went on sale during those big sales events — but more than half of the 20 products were actually the same sale price or cheaper at some point earlier in the year.
In flyers, Canadian Tire promises "our lowest prices of the year" during Black Friday week (Nov. 28 to Dec. 8) and that claim checks out, according to Marketplace 's tracking. That is when consumers get the best deals on the items tracked, including on three products Marketplace found for sale during that week.
But the company also advertises early Black Friday savings from Nov. 7 to Nov. 28. In large print, the flyers prominently state Black Friday and that "these prices won't go lower this year," however, shoppers may miss the smaller print that explains they are "early" Black Friday deals, and the lowest price is only guaranteed for the 33 days remaining in the year, as opposed to the lowest price of the year.
Based on Marketplace's price tracking, some of the deals offered as part of early Black Friday sales were the same or worse than earlier deals in the year.
Some of the price differences were small, like a carpet cleaner that was advertised for $89.99 during an early Black Friday promotion that could have been bought for 10 cents less in early September.
But price differences from other sales were more pronounced.
For example, on Boxing Day a juicer on sale for $149.99 was $20 cheaper on Cyber Monday. And a blender advertised on Boxing Day was also $20 cheaper on Cyber Monday. An espresso machine discounted to $699.99 on Cyber Monday was $50 cheaper during a sale in July.
Zhu said despite sales events pressuring people to buy right away, there will always be deals.
"Forget about the clock ticking and it being on sale … just focus on if it's worth the price I'm going to pay," she said.
Data from payment service companies Square and Moneris show the events still entice customers, with 2024's Black Friday and Cyber Monday growing in popularity compared to the year prior.
Some customers have gotten resourceful in their efforts to get the best deal.
Marcus Silva says he was "fed up" of poring over Canadian Tire flyers each week, so he made a website to do the work for him. TireSpy.ca tracks product prices each week in the flyers to help people see when they're getting the most savings.
"I'm just trying to stretch my money out and making sure I'm spending the money in a fair way," he said.
"I love shopping at Canadian Tire ... and I love a deal as well."
Using data from Tire Spy, Marketplace analyzed hundreds of products and found:
Of the 45 Black Friday products analyzed, 100 per cent were the lowest prices offered in the year.
Of the 38 early Black Friday products analyzed, 21 per cent were the lowest prices offered in the year.
Of the 245 Boxing Day products analyzed, six per cent were the lowest price offered in the year.
Of the 623 Cyber Monday products analyzed, less than one per cent were the lowest price offered in the year.
Canadian Tire declined an interview but said in an email the company runs "carefully planned weekly promotions" and it understands "the challenges many Canadians face in today's economic environment."
"There are many factors that are taken into consideration when determining the pricing and promotions of our products, and we indicate to our customers in our weekly promotions whether or not the lowest price of the season or year is being offered," the email said.
What this means for shoppers
Davis and Zhu have tips for customers including:
Remembering that, in many cases, an item will go on sale multiple times, so there's no need to rush.
If you're planning on buying a particular item, try watching the price over time to try and land the best deal.
Don't focus on how much you're being told you'll save, focus on how much the item costs if you were to buy it right now and use that to determine if it's the right price.
But it's an uphill battle for shoppers, said Zhu.
"The retailer has too much power, there's no transparency."
Both Davis and Zhu said it's impossible for consumers to know the true value of the item they're buying but said rules in the European Union (EU) could help.
In the EU, sale prices must also be accompanied by the lowest sale price in the last 30 days.
"I think anything that does compel a little more structure … in when you can say something or not is going to be beneficial for consumers," Davis said.
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