Valid & Invalid transactions

Permissibility of "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" deals

Q: I wanted to know the Share'ee ruling on "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" deals that many merchants offer in their stores. 

For example, buy 1 case of water, get 1 free. Or buy 1 cellular line and get 1 free. These are offers that are conditional on a purchase of 1 item at least. They're usually incentives to get the customer to buy them for various reasons (they want to remove the item from their shelves, or it's a sales/marketing strategy, or simply a competitive deal in a free market). Is such a deal permissible for the buyer, or is this considered riba? 

Another type of deal that's similar is buying a certain quantity to get a better deal than buying 1. For example, 1kg of tomatoes is RS 50 but 2 KG is 40 (a savings of RS 10). Is such a deal permissible for the buyer?

Joining a buying group that charges a monthly fee

Q: Please advise regarding below: 

There is a group/consortium that allows you to join them for an admin fee of R1000 a month. 

The benefit of joining them is that once you are affiliated with them, you get extra discounts from the suppliers with whom they have negotiated better rates for all those who are affiliated with them. 

Thus, when I go to any supplier, I just need to mention to him that I am part of this group, and they will give me a 5% or 10% discount due to me being a member of the group. 

The benefit of a member is that the group has better buying power and can negotiate better rates which later assist the members of the group. 

Besides these discounts negotiated on behalf of the group, they do not provide advertising or any other services to any of the members. Is this arrangement permissible?

Selling items using the odd pricing strategy and not giving change

Q: There's a trend among large retailers of using a marketing strategy called odd pricing, eg. $4.99, instead of $5. This is based on the psychological trickery of making a price more appealing. Muslim informal traders have now adopted this same strategy.

Firstly: Is this allowed, considering the origin and deceitful nature.

Secondly: These Muslim traders accept the full amount of $5. Unlike the large retailers, who give your change, the Muslim traders offer no change to the customer. This price is sometimes $199, and when accepting $200, no change is offered. Is this permissible? Surely, this is a form of stealing. At the very least, trickery.

When called out, they offer 'Urf as an excuse, saying this is the general usage in a community. However, the retailers who use this strategy gives the customer his due change. So it does not equate to the same.

Fast food shop adding an extra item into one's meal

Q: I was at this fastfood shop last week and I bought a 3 chicken wings meal. I came home and saw that I was given 4. Normally I don’t worry about this since usually I assume this occurs if one of the wing pieces is small so they give another to compensate, however, because I’m dealing with religious OCD and doubts, I’m worried. I called them today and they confirmed that sometimes they do this for the reason I mentioned above. Can I assume that this is what occurred in my case instead of thinking that they made a mistake?

Purchasing through Shein's points and coupon system

Q: Shein, an online store has a points system. For everyday the user checks in they are given points, for every review on items bought u are given points.

When orders are received and you confirmed its received, you are given points and these points are then accumulated and converted into rands for which you can use for purchases.

Is this points system valid?

Also, they have a coupon system where if you purchase over a certain amount, there is a discount. Is this permissible?

Seller charging more than the fixed price when selling an item

Q: I bought an electronic item from a store and it was discussed that the amount would be 67000 INR even if I pay once or in 3 installments. On the bill it was mentioned that 22333x3 will be deducted from my card every month for 3 months and also it was mentioned as 65300 as principal and 1700 as interest. Is this allowed as the amount was fixed?

Later, I found out in the statement that around 100 rupees was charged extra and total amount which they took was 67100 INR.