Arriving straight from North America, Black Friday starts on Friday November 29, 2024. A few weeks before, merchants risk artificially inflating prices to make people believe in an attractive discount. How to avoid the scam?
Daniel Bideau, president of UFC-Que Choisir in Puy-de-Dôme, gives his advice on how not to be fooled during Black Friday, a period when physical or online retailers put a lot of pressure on consumers.
Do it in advance!
“The first piece of advice is, one or two months in advance, to raise the reference prices if you want a product because there is a phenomenon of artificial price inflation. Find out in advance, this is valid for the price but also for the product itself. This allows you to assess its quality. Because the day you go to buy, you will be pressured to buy the product offered by the seller. These preliminary identification elements are also elements of common sense. »
Online
“On the big day, pay attention to the site you go to. There are quality or warranty issues on foreign sites, especially those hosted outside the European Community.
Also be careful of phrases that aim to influence you: “Seven other people are looking at this product”; “Only three products left in stock”; “You have 10 minutes left to take advantage of our offer”… This is often false.
And when paying, make sure the site is secure and that its address begins with “https://”. »
Do we really have to respect the “deadline” on food products?
In addition, the consumer will receive a lot of messages, so he must be careful about the links he clicks on because he risks being “phished”. If it is a pirate commercial site, it will have been made in such a way that you will not be able to see that it is a pirate site. Before, we could identify them thanks to spelling mistakes, this is no longer the case today. If the message seems interesting, you simply have to go to the brand's website yourself. »
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And in store?
“For physical purchases, I advise going to identified stores, which have been established for a while to be certain of their reliability over time. Because, behind it, you have guarantees that you must be able to keep. »
What's the difference with sales? “Sales are the only time of year when traders have the right to sell at a loss. They are therefore in principle more interesting…”
Comments collected by Pauline Mareix