Black Friday shoppers should be wary of deals to avoid being ripped off, a consumer group has warned.
According to research from Which?, nine out of ten Black Friday deals are actually cheaper or the same price at other times of the year.
Black Friday originally marked the day after Thanksgiving in the United States and the start of the Christmas shopping season in the United States.
However, in recent years, sales have expanded to the weeks before and after, with Cyber Monday generating millions of online sales.
Shoppers spent an estimated £13.3 billion during Black Friday sales in 2023, according to Which?
Its researchers examined 227 products during the Black Friday fortnight last year, between November 20 and December 1.
The deals analyzed came from eight of the UK's largest homeware and technology retailers and some of the products on offer were the same price or cheaper at different times of the year.
In what he calls “one of the worst examples”, which one? found a hairdryer priced at £18.99 as part of a Boots Black Friday deal, claiming to be discounted from £49.99.
However, the product had never cost £49.99 at Boots in the previous 12 months.
Which? said a Boots spokesperson told him its researchers had “examined a very small number of our Black Friday deals from last year and in all cases items were lower priced when they were on sale or when prices were compared to those of our competitors.” The BBC has contacted Boots for comment.
Which? also highlighted a previous John Lewis Black Friday deal which included a discounted smartwatch for £294 with a saving of £90. But which one? found at no time in the previous 12 months had it sold for £384.
Which? A John Lewis spokesperson said: “The recent return of our reimagined Never Knowingly Undersold brand promise – which is price matched across 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? The magazine said: “We want retailers to abandon underhanded pricing tactics so consumers are not misled about the deals on offer. »
He advised shoppers to compare prices at multiple retailers and use websites that check the product's price history.
“That way you’ll know a lot when you see one,” he said.
