Bait-and-Switch

Bait-and-switch is a deceptive sales tactic in which a merchant advertises a product or service at an attractively low price to draw in customers, the bait, and then, when the customer attempts to purchase it, claims the advertised item is unavailable and pressures the customer toward a similar but more expensive or lower-quality substitute, the switch. The technique has a long history in commercial culture, with documented variations appearing as early as Zhang Yingyu's Ming Dynasty story collection The Book of Swindles, written around 1617. In the United States, a purveyor of a genuine bait-and-switch scheme can be liable for false advertising and, where a competitor's product is used as bait, for trademark infringement, though no liability attaches to a seller who is genuinely able to sell the advertised item even while also promoting a competing product; a seller can avoid liability for an advertised item selling out by disclosing limited quantities or offering a rain check. England and Wales bans the practice outright under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, with penalties including an unlimited fine and up to two years' imprisonment; Canada and Australia prohibit it under their respective competition statutes.