Walmart is famous for lowering prices and calling them “rollbacks,” but sometimes the opposite happens, too. Reader Ben spotted this example of roll-forward pricing at his local Walmart on a clearance sign.

Of course, prices go up all the time, but Walmart doesn’t brag about it. Usually, tiny clearance price changes that aren’t really a sale are due to a retailer making the price conform to a price code, where the last two digits of a price denote whether it’s on clearance or not. In this case, though, the sign doesn’t even make that much sense. “Nothing directly under the sign was priced exactly at $50 – it was all priced between 25 and 50,” observes Ben. That is supposed to make us feel better, but somehow doesn’t.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.