Originating in the USA, Black Friday marked the beginning of the Christmas season. It grew to become a global sale event of massive proportions. And as the fame of many unbelievable price cuts grew, more and more people found themselves saving up for this noteworthy event. Even going as far as to make wish lists over the course of the year. Then waiting for Black Friday to purchase all their desired goodies at a fraction of the normal prices. But is it really a fraction of the price? And are there any scams to watch out for during Black Friday and its surrounding sale days?
Fake Discounts
Don’t for a second think that any major retailers are losing out over Black Friday and the big sale days around it. There may be a few small businesses that will sacrifice turning large profits for the sake of getting their name out there. But the big guys are most certainly not.
What some of the online sellers are doing is actually hiking up the prices a few weeks in advance. This way they are able to label their Black Friday discounts as huge, while not actually losing as much on profit. Most people will fall for this one. Because even the most dedicated bargain hunter may run out of the time and patience to check product prices well in advance. And then keep checking as Black Friday draws near.
Not everyone will be doing this, and it won’t necessarily be all products on a website. It’s also something hard to keep track of, yet still good to be aware of. So should you have a particular item in mind, consider checking its price in advance, starting in September already.
Loss-Leading aka Penetration Marketing
This is something we should be cautious of throughout the year. Although, sale events such as Black Friday are the perfect occasion for retailers to maximize their loss-leading strategies. So what is loss-leading? Well, for example, have you ever wondered why some razor blade companies sell the entire razor new for next to nothing compared to the price of the replacements blades? This is a loss-leading tactic. Enterprises purposefully sell an item at super low prices, knowing that later on, you will need to purchase an item that has a high-profit margin for them.
Some may think that they won’t be caught out by this tactic, however, it works on most of us, most of the time. In fact, it generally works so well that it has become banned in some US states.
Not the Biggest Sale of the Year
Contrary to what all the propaganda is pushing everyone to believe, Black Friday and its surrounding sale days are not the biggest sale days of the year. In fact, according to CNN statistics, Black Friday is generally “dwarfed” by days such as the Saturday before Christmas, also known as Super Saturday.
And from my own bargain shopping, I have found that many of these sale prices are offered again at other times of the year. You may find that watch or TV at a great discounted price again, and maybe even cheaper. This may not be considered a Black Friday scam per say, but the belief in one time only offers leads many to unnecessarily spend their hard-earned money. So don’t be pressured by “now or never” marketing. Especially if you don’t really have the cash for it just yet.
Inferior Products
In many cases, you get what you pay for. Products marked down to ridiculously low prices are often out of date (or about to become out of date). So make yourself aware of model numbers and possible new releases on any items you are looking at purchasing. You may find that your bargain item was about to get a lot cheaper anyway.
Due to the incredible popularity of Black Friday, there are companies that have started producing products purely to fit into a lower price range. As a result, they may very well skimp on certain aspects of the product. Making it inferior to any other model. To top it off, manufactures may only create and sell these lesser products during the short super-sale period.
So you might be saying “Ya, ya, I know not to buy from lesser or unknown brands”. But what many don’t know is that even the larger more trusted manufactures are producing “derivative models” of their products. Relying on the fact that most people will simply look at the brand name and price. Only to find out later that the items don’t live up to the expectations of the brand. In the example of TVs, Forbes states “These derivative models are toned down versions of standard ones” and their “ short production run might mean that the TVs are more prone to error”.
Keep Your Witts About You in General
Aside from these potential scams or misleading deals, Black Friday also presents wonderful opportunities for your more everyday type frauds, such as phishing. Especially for online shoppers. Some tips to help avoid possible issues are:
- Avoid opening or forwarding any suspicious-looking attachments in emails or sms’s.
- Don’t give out your details to any company or person not recognized.
- Update any of your mobile shopping apps regularity.
- Rather don’t save your card details on any e-commerce sites.
- Only purchse through known e-commerce sites and especailly watch out for fake sites. Sometimes you think you are on the real website but there may be a small difference to the URL.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.