Black Friday is a big American import and flagged up both sides of the Atlantic by retailers as a shopping bargain bonanza with sales, deals and discounts on offer on everything from tech gadgets and clothes to furniture, homeware, and I’ve even seen spotted Black Friday deals on weddings!
This year Black Friday falls on Friday 29 November, however in recent years, it’s no longer been just one day on the calendar, with many stores hosting a week, fortnight or even month, of Black Friday deals and discounts.
But are those bargains all they’re cracked up to be? Consumer group Which? has done its usual number crunching of the price tags and found over 90% of last year’s Black Friday deals were sold at the same price or cheaper at other times of the year.
Shoppers may still get excited about Black Friday but it can be a red letter day for scammers too, as it can present them with a golden opportunity to cash in on our bargain hunting.
Last year Christmas shoppers lost a whopping £11.5 million to festive scams so while Black Friday can throw up some bargains, you need to be prepared to up your game and stay savvy with smart shopping tactics.
How to shop smart and avoid being ripped off
Stay one step ahead
Get organised. Make a list of anything you’re looking for and check prices now across comparison sites such as Idealo or PriceSpy.
You can set up price alerts too – so if prices drop you’ll get to hear about it. With Amazon, you can check any Black Friday offering really is its cheapest price by using its free price tracker that monitors prices across the site all year round. Watch out for super crazy low price tags too.
Shopping around upfront means you get an idea of prices across the board, so if you later spot your ‘must have’ item on sale at a super crazy low price, much lower than anyone else, think twice, as the offer may not be as genuine as it sounds.
Register with websites in advance
If you think you’ll want to shop on specific sites, it’s worth creating a free online account in advance.
This means registering your details, such as email and delivery address, to save delays at the online checkout. While some sites will let you check out as a ‘guest’, can be quicker if you’ve already got an account set up with your address and contact details.
Worth remembering too, that with a surge in purchases over the Black Friday period, there may be some delays when it comes to delivery, as has happened in recent years.
Watch for copycat websites
Fraudsters are clever at creating websites that look like the real thing when they’re not. This includes shopping sites, and ‘deals’ may be circulated via social media or WhatsApp with scam links to copycat sites to encourage you to click and pay.
If you hear of deals or bargains on social media, worth doing a search for the genuine store website yourself and buying from there. And if you’re targeted with offers or deals in emails, never click on the links, however enticing they sound.
Pay the right way
Pay securely, so always by card or other approved payment methods like PayPal. Never ever pay by bank transfer, whatever the excuse or reason from the seller, as it’s just like handing cash to a stranger.
Paying by credit card, if goods cost over £100, means automatic legal protection under a bit of consumer law known as ‘Section 75’. This means if goods don’t arrive or the company goes bust, you can tap up your credit card company for a refund.
With debit card payments, you can ask your bank or card company to do a free ‘chargeback’. Not legally enshrined in law, (unlike Section 75), but means they can reverse the transaction with the retailer’s bank to get your money back.
Watch for delivery scams
Delivery scams go into overdrive during the festive season. If you’ve snapped up some online bargains over Black Friday, chances are you won’t know, or remember, which courier company will be delivering your parcels. So if you get a text or email claiming you’ve missed a delivery with a ‘handy’ link to rearrange – watch out!
With delivery scams, you’ll often be asked to enter personal or payment details, plus a small nominal amount to have your parcel ‘re-delivered’. Scammers can then reuse your details at your expense!
And remember Black Friday isn’t your last chance to ‘bag a bargain’
Black Friday isn’t the last day on earth to bag a bargain. Some stores may slash prices still further as we go into December if stock won’t shift and there’s those Boxing Day sales too. And finally it pays to check your return rights too, just in case you later regret any impulse buys!