The discounts offered on Black Friday are almost all false. The Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) reports that on average prices rise by 3% despite the fact that discounts of 23% are announced, according to a price monitoring study presented this Tuesday.
The increase occurs when comparing the offer price on Black Friday with the lowest price for the same product in the previous 30 days. Law in hand, a discounted product must start with the lowest price it has had in the last month (it would be the one that normally appears crossed out in the offers) and then the price with the discount. But in reality "the online businesses analyzed calculate the discount based on the previous price that best suits them, not the cheapest in the last 30 days, which is what the regulations require," highlights Manuel Vivas, spokesperson for the OCU. Thus, "they usually hide price increases," he warns.
For a month now, the organization has been tracking the price of 18,000 products on 63 electronics and home appliance websites. As of November 20, "no price" was lower than that seen in the previous 30 days. In a third of cases they are even higher, with an average increase of 14%. On the websites of Balay, Amazon, LG, Carrefour, MediaMarkt, El Corte Inglés and PC Componentes the increase is greater, while prices rise by 9% in the case of Amazon, it is stated.
The situation means that not even 1% of the items have the price reduction correctly announced. Given the situation, the organization has asked Consumer Affairs to take measures "to put an end to this deceptive practice and to sanction the affected businesses in an exemplary manner."
The arrival of Black Friday and other commercial holidays such as Cyber Monday also causes an uptick in cyber scams. Store impersonation or data theft forces consumers to be extremely cautious. To avoid falling into a trap, it is recommended to look at the quality of the images on the site where you are purchasing, possible spelling mistakes, vague descriptions of the products offered and suspiciously low prices. You can also choose to read reviews on the website or enter false information when making the payment since sometimes they are considered good and a failure of this type would confirm that it is a fraud.
