The next Black Friday is approaching – bargain hunters should be prepared for these tricks from retailers

Just because a product seems exceptionally cheap doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good deal. After all, companies don’t give anything away. However, in order to create this impression among consumers, companies dig deep into their bag of tricks. This article shows which tricks you should be careful of.

80 to 90 percent discounts – too good to be true

On Black Friday, the retail branches and websites of major retail companies are overwhelmed with big discount campaigns and special offers. In some cases, customers are given discounts of 80 to 90 percent. To express this in numbers: A product for which a company could achieve a price of 100 euros using a multi-stage price calculation, taking into account all costs incurred, surcharges and an included profit margin, would be sold over the mostly virtual shop counter for ten to 20 euros through this discount campaign – and would still be economical, i.e. profitable, for the company. How is that possible?

The consumer portal Mydealz advises consumers not to blindly trust the discount information. The prices are often increased at short notice in order to be able to advertise an attractive discount just a short time later. Or the higher discount is already included in a non-binding selling price (RRP) that is significantly higher than the market price. Mydealz recommends always comparing prices on comparison portals before buying and keeping an eye on the prices posted by other retailers.

Exorbitant shipping costs

The portal also advises consumers to take a close look at the shipping costs, especially since in many cases these are only shown in the last step of the order. It is not uncommon for companies that at first glance offer discounts through extensive discounts to offset at least part of the previously granted discount through shipping fees. It is therefore questionable whether a customer can really benefit from the price reduction if the initial price advantage has little or no effect due to the high shipping costs.

Scarcity marketing: “Only while stocks last”

A trick that many retail companies use, and not just on Black Friday, is to create an “artificial shortage” of the offer or product. If the offer does not have a lead in the form of “only for a short time”, the message “Only while stocks last” is often found. The company also likes to use a supposed countdown that shows how many products are still available. However, consumers should not allow themselves to be put under pressure here, as Mydealz advises. Especially since, on the one hand, trading companies are legally obliged to keep sufficient products in stock, at least for the first few hours, and on the other hand, hardly any offer is one-off, according to Mydealz.

Why you don’t have to jump on countdown offers straight away

Almost all online retailers use so-called countdown offers on Black Friday. Offers that are only available for a very limited period of time – usually just a few minutes or hours. The intention of the retail companies is obvious: consumers should be encouraged to buy as quickly as possible. Here too, consumers should heed the same advice as with an artificially created shortage – stay calm. It often happens that offers are repeated and other retailers offer the product at the same price because, according to the consumer portal, online retailers are based on each other and the prices are automatically set by algorithms.

Editorial team finanzen.net

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