Nike Facing Class Action Over Alleged Use of Deceptive Sale Prices

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Nike has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the sportswear brand uses fake discounts on its website and mobile app to induce consumers to make purchases.

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The 29-page false advertising lawsuit contends that Nike advertises shoes and apparel on Nike.com and the Nike app with fabricated strikethrough reference prices along with corresponding “sale” prices and a calculation of the apparent percentage discount in order to trick consumers into believing that they are receiving a special deal even when no real savings are being offered.

According to the suit, Nike’s reference prices are inflated and do not actually reflect the prices at which the products were sold in the recent past. The lawsuit alleges that Nike’s “sales” often last longer than 90 days, meaning its reference prices are “stale” and not indicative of the products’ actual value.

The lawsuit claims that displaying inflated reference prices is a “known” strategy for retailers that has been deployed to increase sales, unload excess inventory and induce consumers to purchase products that they otherwise would only have been willing to pay less for. The suit argues that Nike’s inflated reference prices and offers of “extra” markdowns via promotional codes work in tandem to create a false sense of urgency and incentivize consumers to act quickly.

The filing claims that Nike’s deceptive conduct runs afoul of California’s False Advertising Law, which requires that any published “former price” reflect the true market price of the product within the previous three months, unless the retailer notes in the advertisement when the product was sold at the listed reference price.

“Simply put, an item ‘on sale’ in California must have been openly and actively offered for sale at the advertised ‘former price’ within 90 days of the sale,” the lawsuit says.

According to the complaint, an investigation conducted by the plaintiff’s counsel using the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, a digital archive of website snapshots, confirmed that Nike’s so-called sales frequently lasted for three months or longer.

For example, the lawsuit says that the plaintiff’s counsel discovered that between September 8, 2025 and March 14, 2026, black Nike Air Max 2017 sneakers were listed with a $190 reference price and various lower “sale” prices, even though the shoes were continuously on sale for at least those six months.

The suit calls this “emblematic” of Nike’s deceptive conduct, as consumers were led to believe that they were receiving a good deal by way of a false and inflated reference price. Moreover, additional pricing obtained by the plaintiff’s counsel indicated that the Nike Air Max 2017s may have been on sale for a staggering 14 months.

“Unfortunately, Nike’s deceptive strategy was successful, and as a result of Nike’s misrepresentations and false statements, [the plaintiff] and other consumers were tricked into purchasing Nike products and paid more for Nike products than they otherwise would have paid,” the case states.

The Nike class action lawsuit looks to cover all individuals in California who purchased a Nike product through Nike’s website or mobile app at a discount from a higher advertised reference price on or after July 21, 2022. 

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