Black Friday: Getting real bargain not black and white

Tomorrow, it is expected that British consumers will spend £2.6 billion in just 24 hours on festive bargains.

Or to put it another way, people in the UK will spend £1.8 million every minute, snapping up cut-price offers, both in the high street and over the internet. And for all the talk of austerity, it is a figure that is expected to grow by eight per cent compared to last year.

But while the advertising hype is being racheted up to fever pitch, is Black Friday really all it is cracked up to be?

A survey by consumer organisation Which? found that the majority of the supposedly unmissable deals offered in last year’s Black Friday sale were not all they seemed. Six out of every 10 of the items the group looked at were found to have been offered for the same price or less at other times of the year.

Which? tracked the Black Friday prices of 35 of the most popular technology, home and personal care products sold by Currys, PC World, Argos and Amazon. For example, last year Curry was offering a Black Friday deal on its Neff Slide And Hide oven, which was being offered for £494.99. However, had customers waited for a further three weeks, they could have saved an extra £45 as the price was cut again. More to the point, the oven was found to be cheaper on at least 113 other days of the year, so it was not quite the bargain it seemed.

Another Currys promotion invited customers to save £400 on a new 55in Samsung Smart television with a curved screen, available for just £849. But the investigation found the same TV was on offer for £50 cheaper on no fewer than 29 occasions during December, January and April, the same price at least seven times in April, and a whopping £79 cheaper on 18 occasions in May.

The electrical chain also offered a DeLonghi bean-to-cup coffee machine for £349 on Black Friday last year, which sounds a pretty impressive saving given that – according to the advert – the normal price was £729.99. But how normal was the normal price? The Which? investigation team found it had sold for £579.99 for nearly three weeks during the three-week period when it was supposed to be at its regular price. And once Black Friday was out of the way, the same product was on sale for the same price for most of December.

It’s not just Currys by any means, though.

Online retailer Amazon, which operates a huge warehouse from Tamworth, invited customers to save 26 per cent on an Oral B electric toothbrush, which was reduced from £40.49 to £29.99. Tempted? Well the same produce was on offer for £24.99 for at least two days in July.

“Our lowest price” is the tagline on a 49in LG TV advertised for £499 at Argos. But had customer waited an extra week, they could have saved £4, and by the end of the month it was going for £479. Of course £4 is not a great deal in the scheme of things, and it is perhaps expected that there might be a premium for customers wanting their TV in time for Christmas. But it does make something of a mockery of all the Black Friday hype.

Currys defends its pricing policy, saying that all the Black Friday offer represented substantial savings. If similar savings are on offer at other times of the year, that can only be good news for the consumer, said the chain.

“The Black Friday sales period has become an established part of our promotional calendar alongside January Sale and Bank Holiday weekend offers,” said a Currys spokesman.

“Last year, Currys PC World alone featured around 4,000 products reduced as part of our Black Friday campaign with many items being their lowest ever price at that point in time.

“The fact that some of these were then reduced further in the months after that period is simply us continuing to offer our customers great value throughout the year.”

The response from Argos is similar.

“Black Friday is a fantastic event which allows customers to choose from thousands of products which offer great value,” says a spokesman. “This does not exclude these products from other sales or promotional activity at other times of the year.”

Amazon adds: “We offer many thousands of incredible deals around Black Friday representing millions of pounds of savings for our customers across a vast selection of products.”

That, of course, is not to say that there are not many good deals to be had on Black Friday. The important thing is not to be blinded by the “sale” stickers and to compare prices to see if they are as good as they seem.

Alex Neill, Which? managing director of home products and services, says: “Our research shows that although Black Friday can offer some great discounts, not all offers are as good as they seem.“It’s easy to get swept along by the hype and excitement on the day, so we recommend doing some preparation and research to help make sure you really are getting a good deal when shopping in the sales.”

He says consumers should research reviews and regular prices ahead of the Black Friday scramble to see if they are getting as good a deal as they are being promised. It is also worth looking out for shops with “price promises” that mean there could be a part-refund if the item is sold cheaper in the weeks that follow the sale. In other words, a bit of street wisdom is called for.