Class Action Alleges Shade Store Website Advertises Fake ‘Discount’ Prices

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A proposed class action alleges the Shade Store entices consumers into buying its blinds, shades and window coverings by falsely advertising the products as on sale for a limited time.

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The 32-page lawsuit says that although the supposedly time-limited discounts listed on TheShadeStore.com appear to expire on a particular date, the company generates another similar or identical discount with a new expiration date immediately after a given sale ends. As a result, the case contends, the Shade Store continuously offers “made-up” discounts that appear next to fake “regular” prices at which the products are never actually sold.

For example, TheShadeStore.com advertised on January 5 of this year that consumers had until January 18 to purchase roller shades at “15% OFF,” the suit relays. For this offer, the defendant displayed what it claimed to be the product’s original price of $350 with a strikethrough next to a corresponding, lower discount price of $298, the complaint says.

“But the truth is, the Roller Shades’ listed regular price of $350 is not their regular price,” the filing claims. “Instead, they are always at a discount from the purported regular price of $350 (e.g., on January 5, 2023, it was priced at $298, and on April 19, 2023, it again was priced at $298), and the customer is not receiving the advertised discount by buying during the purported sale.”

According to the case, an investigation by the plaintiff’s counsel revealed that the defendant’s sales have persisted continuously since at least April 23, 2020.

By selling its products at “made-up” regular prices and offering fake, perpetual discounts, the Shade Store tricks consumers into making purchases they otherwise would not have made based on false information, the suit alleges. For one, limited-time promotions create a sense of urgency that makes consumers more likely to make an immediate purchase rather than wait or compare similar products from different stores, the lawsuit explains.

“In addition, consumers are more likely to buy a product, and buy more of it, if they believe that the product is on sale and that they are getting a product with a higher regular price and/or market value at a substantial discount,” the filing reads.

Per the complaint, the company’s fake discount scheme has caused consumers to overpay for its blinds and shades. The plaintiff, a Washington resident who bought a set of cellular shades from TheShadeStore.com in February 2022 at what she thought was a time-limited 20-percent-off sale, says that she and other consumers would not have purchased the defendant’s products, or would have paid less for them, had they known they were not receiving the advertised discount by buying during the purported sale.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone who, during the applicable statute of limitations period, purchased one or more products advertised at a discount on TheShadeStore.com.

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