Discount and sale price advertising rules in Turkey

What legal rules apply to discount announcements in Turkey?

Every Turkish ad or notice that shows a discount must clearly state the pre-discount price, the start and end dates of the sale and, if the discounted quantity is limited, that quantity. For goods, the pre-discount price is the lowest price in the 10 days before the discount starts; each sales channel is assessed on its own prices, and the burden of proof lies with the seller.

Note: This article explains Turkish rules for brands advertising and selling to consumers in Turkey. It is general information, not legal advice, based on texts on mevzuat.gov.tr as of October 2026 (last updated: October 2026). Have campaign copy reviewed by a Turkish lawyer before launch.

The rules sit across several texts: Law No. 6502 on Consumer Protection (commercial advertising in Article 61 and the Advertising Board in Article 63), the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices (especially Articles 13 and 14), the Price Label Regulation (Article 11) and, for promotion terms, Article 5 of Law No. 6563.

What must a discount ad include?

Under Article 14(1) of the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices, ads containing any written, audio or visual indication of a discount must clearly state:

• The price before the discount,
• The start and end dates of the sale,
• The quantity, if the discounted quantity is limited.

Apply this not just to TV spots but to site banners, discount badges on product cards, social ads and campaign emails. Article 14(2) bans wording or images that mislead about which products are discounted or by how much, or that create the impression of a bigger discount than actually given. A headline such as "up to 70% off everything" needs products that genuinely reach that rate and a clear scope.

How do you set the struck-through price?

This is where most mistakes happen. Following the amendment published in the Official Gazette on 1 July 2026 and in force since 1 August 2026, Article 14(3) reads:

• For goods: the lowest price applied in the ten days before the discount start date.
• For perishables such as fruit and vegetables, and for services: the price immediately before the discounted price.

Before this change, the Advertising Board's January 2024 guidance applied a 30-day period under the same paragraph. The Price Label Regulation, in Article 11 as amended on 11 October 2025, also adopted a 10-day rule for labels and price lists, and expressly puts the burden of proof on the seller.

Example: a product normally sells for TRY 1,000. Six days before your campaign it ran a two-day flash sale at TRY 800. You now announce TRY 700. Because the lowest price in the last 10 days was TRY 800, the struck-through price must be TRY 800, not TRY 1,000, and the discount shown as 12.5%, not 30%.

How do multiple sales channels work?

Article 14(5), added by the same amendment, says that where a product is sold through different channels, the pre-discount price is set only by reference to the price in the channel running the discount. A price in one channel cannot be used as the basis for a discount in another. So a campaign on your own site cannot show your physical store's or marketplace's higher price as the struck-through price. Keep separate price histories per channel.

The amendment clarified two more points:

• Loyalty programmes: where a programme is easily accessible or usable by consumers, Article 14 also applies to ads for loyalty discounts (Art. 14/6).
• Conditional offers: for offers tied to a purchase condition, such as "buy 2 pay 1" or "20% off orders over TRY 1,500", Article 14 applies except for the rule on showing quantities (Art. 14/7).

What other price advertising rules apply?

Article 13 of the Regulation covers all ads that include prices:

Rule	In practice	Basis
Price must be the total including all taxes	Do not advertise VAT-exclusive prices	Art. 13/2
Price must be stated in Turkish lira	Some services abroad excepted	Art. 13/4
Delivery costs must be disclosed	Amount or calculation method if shipping is charged	Art. 13/5
Instalment ads must show total price and number of instalments	"TRY 250 per month" alone is not enough	Art. 13/7
Time or stock limits must be stated clearly	State the quantity, not just "while stocks last"	Art. 13/9
Personalised prices must be disclosed	Show the personalised and current price in the same area	Art. 13/10

Article 5 of Law No. 6563 also requires promotions such as discounts and gifts to be clearly identifiable in commercial communications, with participation terms easy to access. Linking to a terms page from campaign emails and SMS is good practice.

Why are fake countdown timers and "only 2 left" messages risky?

The annex to the Regulation, listing deceptive commercial practices, names several tactics common in ecommerce:

• Stating falsely that a product will only be available for a very limited time to push an immediate decision (Annex A/7). A countdown that resets for every visitor can fall into this category.
• Describing a product as free when the consumer has to pay for it (Annex A/16, excluding necessary and reasonable delivery costs).
• Falsely claiming to be closing down or moving premises (Annex A/11).
• Using manipulative interface designs online that undermine the consumer's free decision (Annex A/22).

Under Article 11 of the Price Label Regulation, sales held because of an opening, transfer, change of address or line of business may not exceed three months, or six months in liquidation.

What happens if you break the rules?

Under Article 63 of Law No. 6502, the Advertising Board can order suspension, correction, administrative fines, precautionary suspension for up to three months where needed, and removal of content or blocking of access. The same flawed ad running across several channels during a big campaign multiplies the risk.

Pre-campaign compliance checklist

1. Pull a 10-day price history for each channel and take the struck-through price from it.
2. Recalculate the discount percentage from that price.
3. Add start and end dates to banners, product cards, emails and ad copy.
4. State the quantity if stock is limited.
5. For "up to X%" claims, check that products really reach that rate.
6. Add total price and instalment count to instalment displays.
7. Tie countdown timers to the real campaign end.
8. Keep price change logs as evidence.

For big campaign periods, run these checks alongside your media plan with our Black Friday ad plan guide, and size your discount depth with our profit margin guide. If you want a compliant and profitable campaign for the Turkish market, request a free growth analysis via our contact page and plan the advertising side with the Performetic team.

Key takeaways

• Discount ads must show the pre-discount price, start and end dates and, if limited, the quantity.
• For goods, the struck-through price is the lowest price in the previous 10 days (Advertising Regulation Art. 14/3 from 1 August 2026; Price Label Regulation Art. 11).
• Each sales channel is assessed on its own price history.
• Prices must be tax-inclusive and in Turkish lira; instalment ads must show total price and instalment count.
• Fake countdowns, false "free" claims and manipulative interfaces may count as deceptive practices.
• The Advertising Board can order suspension, correction and administrative fines.