Black Friday shoppers warned to be wary of deals

Black Friday shoppers should be wary of deals to avoid being ripped off, retail experts have warned.

Nine out of 10 Black Friday offers are cheaper or the same price at other times of the year, according to research by consumer group Which?.

While Sarah Johnson, director of merchandise consultancy Flourish Retail, told the BBC some brands may inflate prices ahead of sales to make discounts look bigger.

Black Friday originally marked the day after Thanksgiving in the US but in recent years the sales have extended into the weeks before and after, with Cyber Monday driving millions in online sales.

Shoppers spent an estimated £13.3bn during the Black Friday sales in 2023, according to Which?.

Ms Johnson said: "It used to be that you had to establish a price for 28 days before it could be changed, but this is no longer the case.

"As a result, many brands inflate prices in the lead-up to Black Friday, allowing them to advertise 'big discounts' that, in reality, aren’t genuine."

Which? researchers looked at 227 products in last year’s Black Friday fortnight between 20 November and 1 December.

The deals analysed were from eight of the biggest home and tech retailers in the UK and some of the products on offer were the same price or cheaper at different times in the year.

In what it called "one of the worst examples", Which? found a hairdryer priced at £18.99 in a Boots Black Friday deal, claiming to be reduced from £49.99.

However, the product had never been £49.99 at Boots in the preceding 12 months.

Which? said a spokesperson for Boots told it its researchers had "reviewed a very small number of our Black Friday deals from last year and in all cases, the items were at a lower price whilst on promotion or when price matched against competitors." The BBC has contacted Boots for a comment.

Which? also highlighted a previous John Lewis Black Friday deal which featured a smartwatch discounted to £294 with a saving of £90. But Which? found at no point in the previous 12 months had it been sold at £384.

Which? said a John Lewis spokesperson told it: "The recent return of our reimagined Never Knowingly Undersold brand promise - which matches prices with 25 leading retailers - gives customers absolute confidence that they are getting fantastic value.”

The BBC has contacted John Lewis for comment.

Harry Rose, editor of Which? Magazine said: “We want retailers to drop the sneaky pricing tactics so consumers are not misled about the deals on offer."

He advised shoppers to compare prices at multiple retailers and use websites which check the product’s price history.

"That way you’ll know a good deal when you see one," he said.

How to avoid a bad deal on Black Friday

• Be wary of products for sale at too good to be true prices.

• Make a list of things you want to buy and stick to it to avoid impulse purchases.

• Focus on buying fewer but higher-quality items instead of snapping up lots of lower-priced deals and you'll reduce waste while saving money.

• Beware of fake websites and check the URL belongs to the official brand.

• Watch out for posts from a newly created social media account, or links to a recently created website. You can use a domain checker like who.is to check when a website was created.

• Read reviews and only buy from authorised sellers and websites.

Source: Which? and Flourish Retail