It's the biggest shopping day of the year tomorrow, but bargain hunters are being warned to be on their guard against Black Friday deals that aren't always what they're cracked up to be.
Retailers work hard to give the impression that reductions are unprecedented and time-limited, but consumer group Which? has found that a shocking 98% of Black Friday 2021 deals it analysed were cheaper or the same price at other times of the year. So while there are some deals to be had, genuine discounts are often few and far between.
Which? looked at 214 of last year’s Black Friday deals at seven major home and tech retailers – Amazon, AO, Argos, Currys, John Lewis, Richer Sounds and Very - every day in the six months before and after last year's sale day (26 November 2021). Out of the deals Which? analysed found 183 (86%) were actually cheaper or the same as their Black Friday price in the six months before the sales event and 209 (98%) were cheaper or the same price at other times in the year. None were at their cheapest price of the year on Black Friday 2021.
Read more: Five common online scams to look out for this Black Friday
The consumer group found some deals that stood out from the crowd - but not in a good way.
- A Zanussi chimney cooker hood was £239 on Black Friday 2021 at John Lewis, with a £30 saving. But it had been the same price since 9 November, and was reduced to £160 for a fortnight in August. It only increased to £269 on 13 October, according to our data, so that £30 saving really wasn’t as good as it looked.
- An integrated Bosch fridge at John Lewis was on sale on Black Friday last year for £869 but dropped in price by £20 less than a week later. It stayed at the lower price every day until 23 February 2022.
- A Leisure freestanding electric range cooker at AO was available for £969 on 26 November 2021 with a £30 saving. But it remained at this price until 23 December 2021, when it dropped further. It didn’t return to above the pre-Black Friday price until February 2022.
- The Toshiba 43UL2163DBC TV was £279 at Very on Black Friday last year, with a claimed £100 saving. But we found it had been £379 for just three days in the month before Black Friday. It stayed at £279 until 22 December 2021, when it dropped further to £275.
All of the big-name retailers Which? looked at had offered the vast majority of products in their so-called Black Friday sales cheaper or the same price in the six months before Black Friday. For AO, Argos, Currys, John Lewis and Very this applied to every single product in our analysis.
When Which? asked the retailers about the so-called bargains, Currys and Very didn’t respond The others said that Black Friday is a key time for deals but is just part of efforts to offer savings through the year.
An Amazon spokesperson said: ‘We seek to offer our customers great value thanks to low prices all year round as well as a number of fantastic seasonal deals events. Our Black Friday sale offers thousands of deals from every category across the site at a time of year when we know saving money is important to our customers.’
A John Lewis spokesperson said that the offers in the research were as a result of its Never Knowingly Undersold price-match pledge which applied until the scheme was retired in August. A spokesperson told us that John Lewis is investing £500m - 25% higher than last year - so customers can benefit from great quality and value, whether they shop in store or online.
Richer Sounds said that it recognises that the rules around ‘was’ pricing can be unclear to consumers, and that it has launched a Pricing Charter in view of this. It said that pricing after Black Friday can fluctuate as manufacturers may have excess stock to shift, or other determining factors in the market means that some prices stay low. The tech retailer said that Black Friday remains one of the key times of the year in the retail calendar, and consumers can generally expect to pick up great deals.
The hype has really started for this year's Black Friday sales, with some retailers claiming to have slashed prices in advance - so how do you know that your bargain is genuine or your deal is real?
Nowadays, it's a lot easier to do your research from the comfort of your own home before even leaving for the sales, so spotting the fake should be an easier matter than pre-internet times.
Follow Which's four easy steps to ensure you've got the real deal and not dodgy stock the retailer needed to get rid of before Christmas.
1. If you do nothing else, check the price of the product across multiple websites.
This is the most basic check you can do. Things to look out for are more than one shop selling a product at a similar price, but only one claims that the price is a special offer. For example, if four shops are selling the same washing machine for £450, but only one claims it's a special offer reduced from £500, it's a pretty good indicator that the price is not a particularly special deal and the machine is usually priced at £250.
2. Check the price history before you commit
Once you've decided what you're after, do some detective work online before you start looking. Check prices on Pricerunner, PriceSpy and CamelCamelCamel (Amazon only) to find what the item has been selling for in the past few months. This will enable you to know whether Black Friday prices are genuinely worth getting excited about.
3. Be wary of 'was' and 'now' price claims
Claims such as 'was £100, now £50' are abundant on Black Friday, but don't be misled. Retailers also use old RRPs (recommended retail prices), so they reflect the value of the item when it was first released, not its current value. This is especially true of tech items. And don't forget Amazon displays every price reduction as if it was a promotion, so even a price drop as small as 1p will be flagged as a discount. In brief, do your homework.
4. Look out for notes or signs explaining offers
If they are difficult to find, the chances are they are deliberately so. In some instances, shops can get away with using 'was' prices that haven't been in place for a long time if they put up a sign explaining the deal. Tactics such as this can make offers look better than they are. Sometimes these notes are well flagged, but sometimes they're completely buried - meaning you have had to scroll through masses of small print to uncover vague wording. As an absolute minimum, before you buy a product in the sales, check the manufacturer's website to see if you're getting a decent discount on the RRP.
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