Bait and switch
Also known as: bait-ad
Bait and switch is a sales technique aimed at luring customers into a store with an offer, only to sell them another product with a higher margin.
An example is an electronics store that advertises a cheap television (bait). Customers who inquire about the offer are pointed out the advantages of another television over the offer, thus enticing them to buy this more expensive television (switch).
While recommending a more expensive product is not prohibited per se, questionable practices are sometimes employed. For example, by deliberately keeping little or no stock of the advertised product. The customer then has no choice but to choose another product. Also, sellers sometimes exert unnecessary pressure to get the customer to make another choice. Many countries have banned such practices.
