Shutterfly Lures Consumers With Fake Discounts, Lawsuit Alleges

Shutterfly LLC entices consumers to buy customizable coffee mugs, cards, and home decor items by advertising fake “original” prices and phantom discounts, a new proposed class action in California federal court alleges.

Consumers often lack information about product attributes and ascribe quality to price, Rose Rivali alleges in a suit filed April 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Shutterfly’s deceptive pricing practice artificially inflates the true market price for the items, she alleges.

Academic researchers have noted that consumers sometimes expend more time and energy than seems reasonable to get a discount, and often ...