During Black Friday, many stores (online or physical) offer significant discounts. However, it is possible to fall into the trap of false promotions. The consumer defense organization Test-Achats warns against these practices. “Some sellers increase prices just before Black Friday to give customers the impression that they are receiving a significant discount,” explains Laura Clays, spokesperson for Test-Achats, in a statement to our site.
Key information
- Some stores (online or physical) use fake discounts during Black Friday.
- A Test-Achats survey reveals that 63% of Belgians think that businesses increase their prices in the weeks preceding Black Friday.
- It’s difficult to know if a promotion is real, but tools exist to check whether a discount represents a “good” or “bad” deal.
In the news: Black Friday is gaining popularity in our regions every year. Some stores offer discounts of up to 50% or more. Test-Achats nevertheless calls for caution and advises against blindly giving in to all the promotions offered during this period.
- According to a survey carried out by the consumer organization, 63% of Belgians think that businesses increase prices in the weeks preceding Black Friday to offer greater discounts. Furthermore, 41% believe that the prices displayed during Black Friday are ultimately similar, or even higher, than those charged at other times.
- “Some businesses don’t even bother raising prices in the days leading up to Black Friday, but apply their discounts to prices they never actually charged,” adds Laura Clays. “They calculate the reduction based on the ‘recommended’ price, whatever that may be. This makes the discount artificially high, pushing consumers to be tempted more easily. »
- Test-Achats also notes that some companies still calculate promotions incorrectly. “However, the legal rules have been in force for more than two years, but some stores continue not to apply discounts on the correct reference price,” laments the organization. “This reference price must be the lowest price displayed during the 30 days preceding the reduction. »
Advice : According to Laura Clays, it is often difficult for consumers to know whether a reduction is calculated on the correct reference price.
However, a few tips can help:
- Use tools like A Good Deal?, developed by Test-Achats, to check if a price is really advantageous.
- “This site analyzes whether a discount is a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ deal by comparing prices at other stores and at other times of the year,” says Clays. “A discount is a good deal when no other store is offering the product at a lower price at the same time, and the current price is at most 1% higher than the lowest price found at another time in the year. ‘year. »
- Add a product you want to purchase to your cart or wishlist and monitor its price regularly, for example every week. This allows you to follow the evolution of the price and better assess whether a reduction is interesting.
- What if you find out afterwards that the reduction wasn’t real? Clays says this is unlikely because consumers rarely have the information they need to realize this. “In this purely theoretical case, you could request that the reduction be recalculated based on the lower price. But in practice, it is more common to buy a product and see it cheaper elsewhere a week later. In this case, there is not much you can do. Unless you ordered online: in this case, you have 14 days (or sometimes more, depending on the store) to return the product and obtain a refund. »
In addition: The Economic Inspectorate carries out checks to detect these deceptive practices.
- Since 2022, 1,360 reports have been filed regarding misleading promotions. These reports led to 811 offenses noted by the Economic Inspectorate. In total, 398 warnings and 346 reports were issued.
- “The Economic Inspectorate carries out numerous checks,” recognizes Clays. “But this is clearly not yet enough to encourage businesses to respect the rules. »
