When is a sale not a sale?

When employees are directed to pretend it isn't unless you're a preferred customer, Mark Ellwood writes in Slate.  I'm guessing that if a small sign stating "sale" is a legal requirement, the NY AG wouldn't be happy with the deceptive implementation:

Walk-ins from the street who inspect a shoe and spot the same dot will be told it’s stocktaking (dismissive and deceptive, sure, but technically true). Calling the subterfuge “a huge pain in the ass,” one former sales assistant explains that he was asked to demur when casual passersby would dawdle or ask what the dots meant. It was easy, given the minimal evidence.