Raymour & Flanigan’s Up To 30% Off Everything Memorial Day Sale

Perhaps you have been waiting for a Memorial Day sale to purchase a sofa, dining room set or some outdoor furniture for the summer. If you visit Raymour & Flanigan’s website, it would appear your day has come.

On the site, above, the furniture chain advertises a Memorial Day sale in which you can get up to 30% off “everything.” But as it turns out, there are quite a few exclusions. In other words, everything doesn’t mean every thing.

If you hadn’t noticed, there is a tiny symbol attached to everything – often an indication in promotions that terms apply. And that is the case here as the symbol corresponds to a fine print disclaimer at the bottom of the page that states “*Restrictions apply. See full promotional and financing details.”

Clicking on that link brings you to the full terms of the offer (though, again, you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see them). And you might be surprised at the number of brands that are excluded – 70 in total. In addition, the offer excludes gift cards, special orders and outlet merchandise.

What the law says

The FTC has a couple things to say about this kind of marketing. First, disclosures can’t fix a false claim.

A disclosure can only qualify or limit a claim to avoid a misleading impression. It cannot cure a false claim. If a disclosure provides information that contradicts a material claim, the disclosure will not be sufficient to prevent the ad from being deceptive. In that situation, the claim itself must be modified.

Here, Raymour & Flanigan isn’t offering up to 30% off everything. Not even close.

Second, if a disclosure is sufficient to clear up a misleading impression (and we’re not saying it is here), it needs to be clear and conspicuous, meaning it must be easy to understand and stand out. Burying information in fine print on an entirely separate page doesn’t seem to fit that bill. In fact, using hyperlinks to disclose material information doesn’t pass muster, according to the FTC.

Disclosures that are an integral part of a claim or inseparable from it should not be communicated through a hyperlink. Instead, they should be placed on the same page and immediately next to the claim, and be sufficiently prominent so that the claim and the disclosure are read at the same time, without referring the consumer somewhere else to obtain this important information.

So before you try to take advantage of this Memorial Day sale, make sure you’re clear as to what it actually applies to.

TINA.org reached out to Raymour & Flanigan for comment. Check back for updates.

Find more of our coverage on purported sitewide sales here.