Perhaps you've wondered why Christmas shopping starts earlier and earlier in stores, and it feels like the period just gets longer and longer. It's similar with Black Friday. From Black Friday to Black Week and then Black Month, from what was previously just a single day with sales and big discounts, marking the start of the Christmas shopping season.
Important aspect for consumers
An important aspect that consumers should consider is that there are stores that raise prices before the Black Friday period and then lower them, giving the impression that the discount is bigger than it actually is. These types of "fake sales" are unfortunately quite common, and in some cases, the price can be higher during Black Friday than the original price! Therefore, it's extra important for consumers to know the price level before to avoid being deceived.
Online stores cheat before Black Friday
The price comparison site Prisjakt.se has released figures for October, showing that many stores have raised prices before the discounts that are supposed to happen during the Black Friday sale. 3 out of 10 products have increased in price during October, and 1 out of 10 products had price increases of more than 10%.
Unlawful to deceive according to the Marketing Act
Johan Ohlsson, head of unit at the Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket), says according to Sverigesradio.se:
If companies do it to create a kind of artificial price reduction during Black Week, i.e., raising the price to make it seem like a big price reduction, then there is a great risk that it is misleading according to the Marketing Act.
According to the Price Information Act from 2022, stores must be able to provide the price of an item for the last 30 days before the discount. Last year, 4 out of 10 e-commerce companies broke these rules, according to the Consumer Agency.
New tactic by online stores to circumvent the law
However, there are ways that stores can use to circumvent the Price Information Act, and that is by raising prices early in October, so that prices are higher 30 days before the sale starts.
Isabella Ahmadi, consumer expert at Prisjakt, says to SVT.se:
The proportion of prices that have increased by more than 10 percent in October has become larger since the introduction of this law. I see this as a sign of a new pricing trend, where prices are raised well in advance of a major sales period, such as Black Friday.
Isabella Ahmadi gives some tips before Black Friday, and the foundation is to do your own research.
- Do research before you shop, for example, use price comparison sites and go back 30 days to see what the regular price is.
- Think about whether the price of the item is reasonable, don't be blinded by the "discount percentage". An item may seem discounted but be just as expensive as before.
- During the sales periods, be aware that stores are doing everything to get you to buy items you didn't plan to. For example, through red labels or "buy three, pay for two".
- Black Friday is still an opportunity for consumers to make good finds, but do research and be critical to ensure that you actually make a good purchase.
