Massachusetts is one of only two states that regulates when stores can declare an item to be “on sale.’’ But the regulations lack teeth, as new, lax guidelines mean that even items that are sold at a given price 69 percent of the year can be designated as on sale. This highly questionable definition masks a bigger point: The state shouldn’t be in this game at all.
As it is, staffing concerns and the complexity of the guidelines render the rules unenforceable. It’s simply impossible to expect Massachusetts to effectively police the never-ending onslaught of sales that stores offer. And even if it could, such a rule conjures up disturbing Nanny State images: a Massachusetts bureaucrat, for example, going from store to store keeping tabs on the length of sales to ensure they reflect an actual decrease in price rather than a permanent state of affairs.
This is a perfect example of a problem that the market can sort out on its own. If there’s one thing 21st century shoppers don’t lack, it’s information. The task of determining whether a “sale’’ is really a sale is best left to comparison-shopping consumers, not the authorities. And given the popularity of websites dedicated to nothing but price-watching and -comparing, doing so is easier than it has ever been. If a store offers an obviously phony promotion, it will be duly punished by its customers. The state needn’t pile on.
