Furniture retailer, The Sleeping Giant Pty Ltd trading as James Lane, and children's play equipment retailer, Systems Operations Pty Ltd trading as Vuly Play Group, have each paid penalties after the ACCC issued the retailers with infringement notices for allegedly making misleading representations to consumers about the duration of their Black Friday sales.
The ACCC alleges that James Lane and Vuly made misleading representations to consumers by claiming in their advertising that products would only be discounted for a limited time when, in fact, the discounts continued after the advertised end date for the sale.
"We are concerned that retailers are increasingly using tactics that create a false sense of urgency, pressuring consumers to make rushed purchasing decisions for fear of missing out on a discount," ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
"These claims also hurt competition as they can discourage consumers from shopping around."
During the ACCC's sweep of Black Friday sales advertising last year, James Lane advertised that its sale would end on 3 December 2025. However, the products continued to be advertised and sold at the discounted price for another week. In its investigation, the ACCC found that James Lane had decided in advance of its Black Friday sale that the discount would be extended beyond the advertised end date.
James Lane has paid a penalty of $19,800 for this conduct after the ACCC issued it with one infringement notice.
"We allege that James Lane created a false sense of urgency for consumers by using an early end date for its sale and statements such as "Sale ends today!" despite the retailer deciding in advance that its sale would be extended," Ms Lowe said.
Separately, the ACCC's sweep also identified that Vuly may have made misleading representations to consumers in November 2025 in relation to the duration of the discounts that applied in its "Click Frenzy" and Black Friday sales.
In early November 2025, Vuly's website advertised that products, including a trampoline, would be discounted in its 'Click Frenzy' sale by 'up to 30% off' alongside a countdown timer to the sale's end date. Immediately after the countdown timer for the 'Click Frenzy' sale ended, the discount increased to 'up to 45% off' as part of a new sale and the countdown timer was updated to a new end date.
Later in November, as part of Vuly's Black Friday sale, it advertised that products would be discounted by 'up to 45% off' with a countdown timer that ended on the official Black Friday date. However, immediately after Vuly's Black Friday sale ended, the discount continued and the countdown timer once again reset to a new end date.
Vuly has paid penalties totalling $39,600 after the ACCC issued it with two infringement notices.
"The ACCC alleges that Vuly also created a false sense of urgency for consumers through its use of countdown timers for sale promotions, because after the specified sale period had ended, the same or higher discount continued to be offered with a new countdown timer," Ms Lowe said.
"With this year's Black Friday sales just around the corner, all retailers should be reviewing their sales advertising practices to ensure that any sales or discount claims they make are accurate, clear and not likely to mislead or deceive consumers."
"Businesses must ensure any sale end dates, countdown timers or limited-time discount claims are genuine."
"We will continue to actively monitor retailers discount claims and will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against businesses who make misleading claims to consumers," Ms Lowe said.
James Lane and Vuly have both committed to the ACCC that they will ensure their future sales advertising complies with the Australian Consumer Law.
Screenshot of James Lane's website homepage on 3 December 2025
Screenshot of Vuly's website during its 'Click Frenzy' sale
Background
James Lane is an Australian company that sells furniture, homewares and bedding. It sells products online through its website www.jameslane.com.au and approximately 30 showrooms nationwide. James Lane is part of the Bart Group, which manages a range of brands including Sleeping Giant and Bed Bath & Beyond.
Vuly is an Australian company that sells trampolines, swing sets, monkey bars and accessories for outside play equipment. It predominately sells its products through its website https://www.vulyplay.com/en-AU and approximately 20 resellers across the country.
In November 2025, the ACCC conducted a Black Friday sales sweep to identify misleading or deceptive sales advertising used by retailers. The ACCC also conducted a similar sweep in 2024 of sales advertising by Australian retailers to target the Black Friday and Boxing Day sale periods.
In June 2025, Michael Hill, My House and Hairhouse Online paid penalties for allegedly making false or misleading representations about their Black Friday sales.
In September 2026, digiDirect paid penalties for allegedly making misleading discount claims. The ACCC first became aware of digitDirect's misleading discount claims during a Black Friday sales sweep.
Misleading pricing practices in the retail and supermarket sectors are an ACCC compliance and enforcement priority.
