Many people get excited when they see something they want or need on sale, be it a new phone or a frozen pizza. And to the great joy of consumers, all sorts of things go on sale constantly. However, when they do, it’s important not to rush to the checkout counter without properly examining the offer first and this list will show you why.

Below you will find examples of deceptive marketing techniques that people have captured in stores and businesses that emphasize just how misleading marketing can be. Take a look at how companies might try to trick you into buying something, and consider this practice for when you go to a store that’s dotted with ‘SALE’ signs, even when there actually isn’t one.

#1 Amazon Prime Video Doesn’t Tell You If A Show Is Unavailable In Your Country Until After You Subscribe To Amazon Prime

Image credits: Iescaunare

#2 Saved This To My Cart Yesterday But Decided To Wait Until Today To Buy It To Get A Sale Price On Amazon Prime Day

Image credits: QuickWrenn

#3 Despite The Official Weight Limit Being 50lbs, These Spirit Self Service Kiosks Will Flag Anything Over 40lbs As Overweight And Require A $78 Additional Charge To Proceed

The only way to avoid this is to have your bag checked by a live employee who will follow the real 50lb limit.

Image credits: attattx

Nowadays, it’s difficult to escape all of the information about goods and services. It seems omnipresent—on billboards while we’re driving to work, on TV while we’re watching our favorite shows, in pop-up ads while we’re scrolling on social media, and even in good old newspapers when we think we can escape the digital pressure that screens bring.

Whether we actively pay attention to what’s being advertised or not, chances are at least some of it sticks in our heads—especially when we catch a glimpse of a good deal, or something that seems too good to pass up. (Did an ad for some delicious food pop into your head? No? I guess it’s just me then.) Consequently, it can lead to us buying whatever it is that was advertised, sometimes even when we don’t really need it.

#4 This Is A New Low, Even For Epson

So apparently the ink cartridges that come with this Epson printer are only for the “initial printing” (i.e. the test pages), so you have to buy new cartridges the moment you get the printer. WTF, Epson?

Image credits: Alaeriia

#5 The Way This Goal Has Extra Rings To Make The Goal Smaller. You Cant See It From The Front When Shooting The Basketball To Try And Win A Prize

Image credits: Own-Marzipan5040

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” And, well, it’s clear by looking at this list that the offerings are often presented in a very appealing, if somewhat deceptive, way.

But as long as the information provided in an ad, a billboard, or elsewhere is true, you can’t really say that a company did anything wrong by choosing a font that makes the number 8 look like a 0 from afar.

#6 Ham And Eggs Are $8.99, But They’ve Outlined It To Look Like $0.99 From Afar

Image credits: comment-stalker

#7 The Fees On Ticketmaster Cost More Than My Tickets

Image credits: papyru22

#8 Starbucks At Laguardia Won’t Let You Order A Coffee Without Installing Their App

Image credits: PaulSkallas

While discussing the persuasion and deception in marketing in a piece for Forbes, best-selling author and speaker Nick Leighton pointed out that, from an ethical standpoint, the line between making a bold statement to influence the target audience and providing information that’s outright deceptive can be quite blurry.

But, according to Leighton, there is an easy way to check if your claim steps over the bounds of being ethical – you can ask yourself if the claim has the potential to harm the consumer, whether financially, physically, or emotionally. If the answer is yes, the expert advises carefully re-evaluating your message.

#9 This Is What Happens When You Price Everything At £4.99 Instead Of £5

Image credits: minisaladfresh

#10 Bowlero – Default 22% Tip. Canceling Order Then Tries To Get Your Business By Giving The Option For No Tip. Then Asks Again To Confirm If You Are Cancelling Order

How is this manipulation not illegal? Time to go back to Cash Only.

Image credits: SideScroller

#11 Paying For A Subscription And Still Have To Sit Through 8 Min+ Of Ads

Image credits: 386andresvega

Delving deeper into deceptive advertising, Nick Leighton suggested that there are seven red flags indicating unethical tactics in advertising. The first one is based on transparency and disclosure, or lack thereof.

“In many cases, it’s not what you say but what you don’t say that is deceptive,” the expert wrote, adding that sometimes, businesses or organizations choose to deliberately withhold important information in order to sway consumers.

#12 Hotel Charging Cable That Requires You To Register An Account And Sign In With The Qr Code In Order To Work. It Gives You A 5-Minute Free Trial And Then Requires A Fee Per Hour Of Use

Image credits: nekomichi

#13 Dave & Busters Spin Game Landed On The 500 And It Only Gave Me 4 Tickets. Showed To Manager And Said It Needed To Be In The Middle

Image credits: Dohello

#14 The Price Of My Burger King Meal Got More Expensive As I Was Checking Out

Image credits: Simply827

Next on the list of red flags are exaggerated claims or misleading language, followed by manipulative imagery, all of which show that if a service or a product seems too good to be true—be it in the description or the pictures—chances are that it is too good to be true.

“Always make sure the claims your company makes are accurate and easily verified to avoid any accusations of deceptive business practices,” Leighton wrote.

The rest of the red flags implying that the company might be using deceptive advertising, entail false comparisons, hidden fees, bait-and-switch, false customer reviews, and misused statistics or cherry-picked data that backs the company’s claims of their products or services.

#15 Grocery Store Price For Bay Leaves Is 16300% Higher Than The Farmers Market

The cheapest bay leaves the local Kroger had were $61.06/ounce. The farmer’s market sells a higher quality for $5.99/pound ($0.37/ounce).

Image credits: Historical_Suspect97

#16 My New Truck Requires A $15/Mo Data Plan To Use Features My Previous Model Did For Free (Maps, Basic Voice Commands, Text To Voice Messages)

Image credits: reddit.com

#17 Amazon Prime Video Is Basically Back To Cable TV Now That We’re Getting Random Commercials In The Middle Of Movies

Image credits: AmericanTrollBot

According to Nick Leighton, fixing the damage caused by misinformation and deception can be a difficult task, bearing in mind that people already aren’t that fond of ads—at least the digital kind—as it is.

Seeking to minimize the number of ads they are forced to sit through, many people use ad blockers, and the main reason for doing so, according to research carried out by HubSpot, is that ads are annoying and intrusive.

Other reasons why people reportedly dislike ads (the ones on their screens, at least) include their disruption, security concerns, reduced bandwidth use, offensive or inappropriate content, and privacy concerns.

#18 $1 Kids Meal? Wow That’s A Good D-…oh Wait

Image credits: reddit.com

#19 Semi Deceptive Marketing

It’s clear what they are offering once you read it fully. I love and hate this in ways that I’ll just not say.

Image credits: SubliminalSavage

#20 Panera Bread Increases Food Price By 25% When You Switch To Delivery – After Redeeming “No Fees” Delivery

Image credits: teraflux

#21 $1 Slices… *squints* Oh

Image credits: jooooooooooooose

#22 “Sale” Pricing

Image credits: xxgsr02

#23 Uber Eats “Taxes & Other Fees” Strikes Again

Image credits: boopyape

#24 I Went To Get My Mail And This Was The First Thing I Saw

Image credits: A-verY-CReAtIVe-NaM

#25 Great Sale

Image credits: SerRoboDuck

#26 Tried To Buy An Economy Flight For $500, Kept Running Into An Error And The Price Eventually Skyrocketed To More Than Premium Economy

Image credits: dn00

#27 This Giant Olympic Countdown Banner During The Entire Movie

Image credits: WaffleWarrior1979

#28 Ads On The Keyboard

Image credits: Yatharth1232

#29 Forcing Scanning Qr Codes To See Prices At The Gas Station?

Image credits: Palerate2

#30 This Ad Increased The Price

Image credits: Kmb1995

#31 Making All Four Screens Smaller To Feature A Massive Logo

Image credits: gohan_sebastian_bach

#32 Our Company Has Received Numerous Boxes Of Nothing Inclosed But A Post Card And Paper Confetti

Image credits: LareeKrause

#33 So I Am Now Officially Never Buying A Vegas Editing Software Again. The Developers Have Removed Vegas Pro Edit 15 For Purchase On Steam And Are Now Revoking Licenses For The Software

I’m now out $150 and no longer have an editing software. Very cool!

Image credits: PaladinPoko

#34 The Fortune In These Fortune Cookies

Image credits: cats-and-cows

#35 “…not My Prob,” Some Target Employee, Probably

Image credits: kellermeyer14

#36 Product Not Selling Fast Enough? Put It On “Sale”

Image credits: Glipocalypse

#37 I Firmly Believe That Tesla Is Anything But Jerk, And Can Even Think Of A Couple Of Reasons Why They Added This Feature, But The Car Should At Least Be Allowed To Start In Complete Manual If The Software Isn’t Installed

Image credits: HipstaBarista

#38 These Shoes Have A Texture *printed* Onto Them. There Is No Actual Texture

Image credits: leutwin

#39 Always Read The Fine Print. Found In Hollywood, Los Angeles Ca

Image credits: OH8IRD

#40 I Walked In, Ordered The Meatball Footlong, And Paid Almost 10 Dollars For It

Apparently I have to order it “as is” or else it’s full price. I was told this after choosing provolone and Italian herbs and cheese, both of which aren’t allowed.

Image credits: MauditAmericain

#41 So, I Was Helping Mum To Use Her Printer And This Comes Out…an Advert…that Used Her Printer Ink To Make It

Image credits: sixspence6

#42 The Box Calls Walmart Out On Its “Sales”

Image credits: _Mr_Brightside_

#43 (Not A) Goodbye Sale!!!!!! (5%-) 99 Percent Off

Image credits: reddit.com

#44 The Humble Bundle Custom Amount Slider Is Designed To Makes It Look Like They Get Less Than Everyone Else

Image credits: yeahwellokay

#45 This Drink On Doordash Says Its $4.69, But The Only Size Option, Which Is Required, Adds An Extra 50 Cents

Image credits: reddit.com

#46 Coffee Shop Has No Prices On Any Of Their Menu Items. Noticing This, I Got Just A Small Chai Latte That Cost $3.50. My Wife, Unfortunately Ended Up Paying $8 For A Small Slice Of Avocado Toast

Image credits: eXtremeAzure

#47 App Puts A Price Slash Into Its Name To Make It Seem Like It’s On Sale

Image credits: TheDittoMan

#48 Hiding The “For” So You Think They Are Having Great Closeout Sales

Image credits: nhblanke

#49 Clerk Said It’s -5% Not -50%. What Do You Think?

Image credits: Relevant_Sense_3321

#50 This 4 Star Hotel In A Dutch City, Pretending To Be A 5 Star Hotel By Using The Town’s Coat Of Arms As A Fake ‘Fifth Star’

Image credits: Buhyac

#51 Peacock Will Not Let You Switch To A Different Feed During A Commercial On The Active Feed. It Just Says “Controls Are Limited During Ads” When You Try To Move To A Different Feed

Image credits: Plurbee_

#52 Kia Charging $150/Year To Use The Already Installed Remote Start Feature

Image credits: multiversesimulation

#53 Sellers Increase Prices During Prime Day And Offer A Discount At Checkout And Call It A “Deal”

Image credits: Crypto-Bullet

#54 My Cabs Preset ‘$0.00’ Tip Button Was Actually Set To Tip 25%

Image credits: DoubleSkew

#55 Neat! A 2$ Burger, That’s Pretty Chea- Oh Wait…

Image credits: reddit.com

#56 Nashville Signature Shakes. Insane Prices. No You Can’t Keep The Cute Jar

Image credits: GhettoBuddhaKinda

#57 We Booked This A Month Ago

Image credits: Conor5050

#58 Amazon “Prime Days” Sales Are Such A Load Of You Know What! Bought This Item In June For $60 Or So And Amazon Says It’s ‘54%’ Off Now

Image credits: SnooGiraffes2532

#59 My New Headset Has Dlc

Image credits: TheBigEarofCorn

#60 That’ll Be $5…99

Image credits: bananabread8

#61 Trying To Book A Cruise As A Surprise For My Wife’s Bday/Our Anniversary In A Few Months. Every Cruise I Attempt To Book Has Ended Up Having “Taxes And Fees” That Are Higher Than The Actual Subtotal, Effectively Doubling The “On Sale” Price

Image credits: Redbird2992

#62 Cheaper If You Don’t Buy Two

Image credits: WholesaleBacon

#63 This Supermarket Offers A 2 For £7 Deal On A £3 Item

Image credits: ItsJonesey94

#64 A 7% Discount Pretending To Be 70%

Image credits: GiltinJr

#65 Spotify Remotely Bricking Hardware Customers Paid For Less Than 3 Years After Its Official Release

Image credits: Tumblrrito

#66 Thought Of This Sub As Soon As I Saw This…

Can’t believe they can get away with this… (apologies for taking a photo of a screen.)

Image credits: roses369

#67 I Sent Someone A Link To A Cat Video And The Thumbnail Is An Ad

Image credits: Inevitable_Gain8296

#68 2k19 Is A Retail 60$ Game. They Put Non Skippable Ads In From Another Company

Image credits: Bulletz4Brkfzt

#69 Spot The Cheapest Option

Image credits: Largonaut

#70 Keurig Sensor Blocks Your Brew Unless It’s “K-Cup Compatible”, Aka Has Scannable Foil. Slap On An Old Foil To A 3rd Party Cup And Suddenly No Issue

Image credits: OfficialUNESCO

#71 “News Flash: Advertising Is Deceptive” — Sigh, This Fake “Thermal Imaging”. If The Pants Kept You Warm By Retaining Heat, The Would Register Cooler On Thermal Imaging, Not Hotter

Image credits: Jeffrey_Friedl

#72 Who Is The One Who Thought Up The Idea To Make People Pay For A Subscription Plan Just To Read A Comment?

Image credits: superloneautisticspy

#73 This Discount

Image credits: livpgibbs

#74 My Grandmother Bought Flowers Over The Phone And They Didn’t Say That The Fees And Taxes Cost More Than The Flowers

Image credits: Therenegadegamer

#75 Parking Lot Charges A Fee For Not Downloading Their App

Image credits: samsonite21

#76 I Can’t Use My Treadmill In Manual Mode Unless I Pay For A Subscription

Image credits: rjroa21

#77 Isn’t It Illegal To Have An “Everyday Sales Price”?

Image credits: redatola

#78 The Price Of Two Pepperoni Pizzas Through Ubereats

Image credits: PaleBlud

#79 Super Bowl Ticket Prices… And Their Fees (Sb Lvii 50 Yd Line Row 17 From Stubhub)

Image credits: deepfocusmachine

#80 Ever Heard Of Paying To Reject Cookies?

Image credits: Neebur

#81 This Sale At Target

Image credits: hawaiianshirtguido

#82 Dog Toy Pricing – Facebook Ad vs. Amazon

Image credits: taez555

#83 This Game Purposely Gives You “One-Time-Deals” That You Can’t Afford So That You Are Tempted To Buy Their In-Game Currency

Image credits: Awesome1984

#84 Fine Print Strikes Again. Buy One Get One 50% Off

Image credits: blueboychu

#85 The Er Could At Least Let Me Watch TV For Free Considering The Huge Bill I’ll Have To Fight

Image credits: saintofhate

#86 Hp Ink Subscription Plan Bricks Your Ink Cartridges When You Cancel The Subscription

Image credits: Cattledude89

#87 Here We Go

Image credits: Agdchz

#88 This Got Me For A Second

Image credits: Op3nFaceClubSandwedg

#89 Apple TV/Amc + Subscription Scam. They Have This Button On Every Show. Not Just Amc + Ones. I Put In Cc Info For The Free Trial And Then It Still Wants Me To Pay For Every Episode After The First Free One

Image credits: greymae

#90 Made To Look Like $2.50

Image credits: No-Conversation8706

#91 Company Trying To Make Me Pay 11 Bucks To Buy A Subscription I Already Own

Image credits: Adorable_Quail5811