Kate Spade Sued Over Deceptive Outlet Prices

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Kate Spade is the latest retailer in trouble over discount pricing, where advertised sales are allegedly not quite as good as they seem. According to Law360, a class action lawsuit filed in California alleges that Kate Spade's outlet stores advertise discounts on merchandise that was originally made to be sold at that discounted price, not anything higher.

One of the plaintiffs says she bought a Kate Spade handbag at an outlet store for $142, which was advertised as 70% off the retail price of $355. However, she claims that the handbag was never intended to be sold at $355. "Upon information and belief, thousands of consumers ... were victims of Kate Spade's deceptive, misleading and unlawful pricing schemes and thousands more will be deceived if Kate Spade's practices continue," the complaint reads.

Kate Spade is the latest in a string of retailers that have been taken to court over their discounted prices. According to the report, Michael Kors settled a similar consumer class action suit in New York for $4.9 million and T.J. Maxx was sued over the same misleading price strategy this summer.