Should you buy electronics and home appliances on Black Friday? OCU warns about false discounts

Many of the sales that stores launch during Black Friday are just a mirage. They seem like they will save your pocket some significant savings, but you will end up spending almost the same money or even more than if you purchased the product that was on your wish list before the Black Friday campaign. The Consumers and Users Organization warns about this (OCU), which recorded greater growth than the week’s decline in electronics and home appliance sales Black Friday.

In particular, the OCU found that 42% of electronics and household appliances products have prices above the minimum level set in September and October., compared to 29%, which are now cheaper, coincides with the Black Friday commercial campaign. This OCU analysis, which has been repeated for years, includes at least more than 12,800 electronics and appliance products across 54 different websites since last September. In fact, on only eight of these 54 websites, discounts were the most common result. According to the OCU survey, these are online stores Alcampo, Carrefour, Electrobueno, Electrocosto, Maxmovil, Milar, Phonehouse and Tien21.

Poll indicates products that are most often discounted, with an average discount of 8%, such as laptops, TVs, robot vacuum cleaners. and headphones. Although if we talk about “good deals”, the biggest offers were found in kitchen robots, coffee machines and, again, televisions.

Against, Among goods that became more expensive, the average increase was 13%.which is significantly higher than the average percentage drop, with peaks of up to 30% in some businesses. Higher increases will affect smart bracelets and watches. cameras and headphones. It is curious that although discounts on headphones occur frequently, when they increase in price, the largest increases are concentrated.

OCU also notes that many of the advertised discounts are not calculated based on the lowest price in the last 30 days, but rather on the previous price that best suits the deal (which may even be a suggested price, which is rarely used). , which is against the rules. On this point, Section 20 of the Retail Trade Regulation Act states that whenever goods are offered at a reduced price, the previous price must be clearly stated in each one in order to make a correct comparison. In this case, the law also specifies that the previous price must be the lowest price that would have applied to identical goods in the previous thirty days.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has already fined two major e-commerce operators for defrauding consumers through “false sales” during Black Friday 2023, which involves increasing the prices of various products before Black Friday and then reducing them to the current price. The department, led by Pablo Bustindui, continues open disciplinary proceedings against six other operators for the same actions and warns that it will again carry out false transactions while strengthening its price monitoring systems.