French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

Since Law No 91-593 of 25 June 1991, the different legal status of new goods and used goods has disappeared. Accordingly, the law does not specify the nature of the goods concerned by the operation to qualify it as a sale. Article L. 310-3 merely states that the products advertised as discounted must have been offered for sale for at least one month before the start date of the sales period .
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Goods offered for sale

According to Article L. 310-3 of the Commercial Code, the purpose of sales is to achieve a rapid disposal of goods in stock . The concept of “stock”, the subject of the sales operation, means, according to the Court of Cassation , a “predetermined and non-renewable” stock . Thus, sale at a discount within the limit of available stocks reveals the purpose to rapidly exhaust a stock of specific and non-renewable goods .

The predetermined and non-renewable nature implies the absence of replenishment . The Commercial Chamber of the Court of Cassation considers that there is no replenishment, but the disposal of a single stock of goods, when the orders are placed with a related company, and not with an outside supplier . It thus adopts the position of the trial judges who considered that a replenishment does not exclude the classification of sales when the various sales outlets of a company, which only has a limited assortment of its own, constantly renew their stock from a central depot . The Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation adopts an identical position: it retains the classification of sales even in case of replenishment, when, very occasional, it cannot be considered as having allowed a real availability of items .

The predetermined and non-renewable character of the stock is also assessed from the consumer's point of view. Indeed, the advertisements affixed to shop windows inform the consumer about the trader's intention. Thus, advertisements intended to persuade shoppers that the price reduction announcements relate to most of the goods offered for sale, suggest that the trader's intention is to rapidly dispose of its goods in stock . The mention “on marked products” also implies that only the items displayed in the store are concerned and therefore that the operation is limited to the stocks available in the store . On the contrary, the limited dissemination of the advertising announcing the promotion shows the absence of a desire to rapidly dispose of the stock . The same applies when the advertisement mentions a discount without suggesting a disposal of the stock . Finally, the objective announced by the advertisements displayed on the store windows, when they suggest the rapid disposal of a stock, is often a decisive element for the qualification of a sale, often more so than that of the predetermined and non-renewable nature of the stock .

The DGCCRF, in a notice dated 12 September 2014, stated that during the sales period a trader cannot, in view of the fluctuation of its stocks, change its mind as to whether a product is discounted or not . Indeed, announcing certain goods as discounted in an advertisement when this is not the case for the entire duration of the operation, is likely to mislead the consumer as to the promotional nature of the price.

 There are no sales without a rapid disposal of the stock: See Cass. com., 13 October 1998, LawLex200300001586JBJ, which declares insufficient the bailiff's report establishing the existence of discounts failing the establishment of a disposal of a stock;  CA Paris, 1 March 1999, LawLex200300001742JBJ;  CA Rennes, 25 November 1999, LawLex200300003860JBJ; Cass. crim., 20 November 2001, LawLex200300004208JBJ, overturning  CA Grenoble, 6 September 2000, LawLex200300004373JBJ;  CA Paris, 26 March  2002, LawLex200400000015JBJ.

 Cass. com., 18 March 2003, LawLex200300001198JBJ, upholding  CA Douai, 25 July 2000, LawLex200300001201JBJ.

  CA Pau, 27 September 1994, LawLex200300004222JBJ.

  CA Paris, 26 March 2002, LawLex200400000015JBJ, for an advertisement announcing only a 50% price reduction.

  See inter alia,  CA Paris, 22 March 2002, LawLex200300001796JBJ, advertising on a store window announcing price reductions with the words "and finally ..." suggesting the desire to exhaust the stock of goods.

 http://www.economie.gouv.fr/dgccrf/possibilite-pour-commercant-darreter-solder-article- pendant-periode-des-soldes.

  Cass. com., 28 January 2004, LawLex200400000197JBJ. See also Cass. com., 19 January 1993, LawLex200300001577JBJ; 13 October 1998, LawLex200300001586JBJ, upholding  CA Montpellier, 14 December 1995, LawLex200300004205JBJ.

  Cass. com., 8 July 1997, LawLex200200001237JBJ, upholding  CA Montpellier, 22 September 1994, LawLex200200001543JBJ;  CA Bourges 24 July 2001, LawLex200300004189JBJ. However, when the sale takes place remotely, the concept of predetermined stock is no longer a relevant criterion. 

 See  CA Dijon, 24 April 2002, LawLex200300004383JBJ, which rejects the qualification of sales when the promotional operation relates to a limited number of products which have been replenished.

  Cass. com., 2 June 2004, LawLex200400001394JBJ.

   CA Grenoble, 11 December 2002, LawLex200400000441JBJ.

 Cass. crim., 19 February 2003, LawLex200300001663JBJ.

 Cass. crim., 13 January 2004, LawLex200400000298JBJ, upholding  CA Grenoble, 11 December 2002, LawLex200400000441JBJ.

 Cass. crim., 13 January 2004, LawLex200400000298JBJ.

 Rapid disposal of a stock

Since Law No 91-593 of 25 June 1991, the different legal status of new goods and used goods has disappeared. Accordingly, the law does not specify the nature of the goods concerned by the operation to qualify it as a sale. Article L. 310-3 merely states that the products advertised as discounted must have been offered for sale for at least one month before the start date of the sales period .

According to the Court of Cassation, the stock whose rapid disposal is pursued must concern predetermined and not immediately renewable goods . Sales therefore relate to seasonal products, unlike closing-down sales, which concern the entire stock of the store . Sales may relate to collections of the last few years  or out of fashion or out of season goods . In this regard, the low number of products sold is irrelevant . However, these sales must not consist in the disposal of unsaleable goods, such as display products, for example . Article A.  310-9 of the Commercial Code provides that “when the sales operation concerns all the products available in the point of sale, a single perfectly legible indication may inform the consumer”.

Finally, Article L. 310-3 refers only to the concepts of products or goods. Does this mean that the provision of services is excluded from the regulations governing sales? In recent years, the practice of sales has extended to services, such as travel. Taking this phenomenon into account, the DGCCRF pointed out that the spirit of the text, which does not use the word “good”, does not automatically exclude the provision of services from the scope of sales. However, not all services can be the subject of sales operations. As sales are to achieve a rapid disposal of stocks, only services sold by a trader who has firmly and definitively acquired a determined and non-renewable quantity from a supplier can be the subject of sales. Therefore, a hairdresser or a caterer who sell their services directly cannot carry out sales.

  For an example of application, see TGI Paris, 8 October 1997, LawLex200300004202JBJ.

  Cass. com., 28 January 2004, LawLex200400000197JBJ.

 The sale of a stock of pre-determined and not immediately renewable seasonal goods makes it possible to distinguish a sales operation from a promotional sale:  CA Limoges, 22 February 1995, LawLex200200002691JBJ.

  CA Bordeaux, 6 February 1996, LawLex200300001751JBJ. Contra:  CA Bourges, 5 June 2008, LawLex201200001233JBJ, which refuses the qualification of sales for products downgraded from a minimum of 6 months to more than 10 years.

   CA Douai, 10 November 2005, LawLex200600001519JBJ.

   CA Pau, 21 October 1992, LawLex200300001726JBJ.

   CA Pau, 26 June 2001, LawLex200300004418JBJ.

French Consumer Law

317. Goods offered for sale

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Les notions juridiques connexes

317. Goods offered for sale

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise