We’re humans, and by nature we love a good offer and more so, feeling like we ‘got lucky’. There’s a thrill to copping something for a bargained value, in feeling as though we hunted the treasure down. These are some psychological aspects behind Black Friday Mania, or getting sucked into Black Friday, as Make it expands on explains.
However, an investigation has shown that the Black Friday Magic is more of an illusion than many people think.
According to the consumer association ‘Which?’, it was discovered that more than 90% of Black Friday deals were the same price or cheaper. So, while many deals are actually a bargain, a lot of them are not.
The investigation compared the six months prior to the sales event, and based on the findings, consumers were warned to do their research as to not be snubbed.
Six retailers were looked at, including Amazon. 184 out of the 201 items were considered the same or cheaper before last year’s Black Friday.
Their findings revealed:
- 99.5% of products were cheaper or the same price as their Black Friday price at other times of the year
- 92% of products were cheaper or the same price in the six months before Black Friday
- 98.5% of products were cheaper or the same price in the six months after Black Friday
- 40% of products were cheaper than their Black Friday price at other times of the year.
“Trading standards warned a deal may not be what it’s all cracked up to be”, says BBC Business.
Katherine Hart, the lead officer at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, added that the “prospect of scams rears its ugly head” during the sales event, which takes place on Friday.
“Sometimes sellers raise their prices before a sales period to make it look like a great deal is on offer during the sale,” the publication further indicated.
Which products should you look out for? According to the inquiry, popular items that may be the same price as an earlier period in the year included washing machines, sound systems and TVs.
Holly Andrews, Managing Director at KIS Finance, and personal finance expert says:
“The Which? investigation has revealed that most Black Friday deals are not what they seem, and many shoppers will be left thinking that they’ve got a good deal when, in reality, they could get a better one if they wait.
“The confusion can come when it comes to reference pricing, which is when a deal refers to a product’s previous price,” she expressed. This refers to a ‘was’ R200.99 now R99.99 set-up.
According to Andrews the ‘was’ pricing can be a price that the retailer has ‘previously charged’ the RRP set by the manufacturer, or a price charged by a different retailer.
“So, the retailer doesn’t actually have to have charged the ‘was’ price before as this could be the RRP or a price previously charged by a competitor. This is a trick used by some retailers to con shoppers into thinking that they’re getting a bargain, but really it’s not a discount at all or the savings are minuscule.”
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