A reference price is any comparison a listing shows against its current selling price — a struck-through "was" price, a "compare at", an implied discount — and it is a factual claim about the past, not a persuasion device. This RFC defines Reference Pricing so that a displayed former or comparison price must reflect a genuine prior selling price for that good, never a fabricated anchor invented to manufacture the appearance of a discount. It refines Price and applies Wise Speech in Commerce and Agency & Anti-Manipulation to one specific deception — inventing the "before" in order to sell the "after" — and so protects a Human's ability to judge a deal on true information.
