Black Friday offers will be important this year

Despite being a more recent event imported from the US, Black Friday is a huge success with important rebates and offers. However, stay vigilant and check that the offers are for real.

The article continues below.

By Bente D. Knudsen

In just a few years, the American concept of Black Friday has grown massively in popularity with turnover at more than 2 billion DKK in physical retail stores or in online shops.

According to Danish consumer magazine Tænk, it is important to stay cool when a good offer appears on Black Friday and they have issued a warning to deal hunting consumers.

“The prices advertised as good deals may look like good deals, and often the advertisement also announces that only a few items are available at the exceptionally good offer.

But consumers have every reason to remain cool and take the time to think it over, even if it is an offer for a product they have been looking for. The price is not necessarily as good an offer as it says.”

Making sure that you are getting a good bargain, and are not just being lured into buying by the enticing SAVE 50 percent or more, is important.

Some years ago, the Danish consumer watchdog, Forbrugerombudsmanden, warned three large retail chains that their Black Friday offers had been misleading or even deceptive; the prices offered on Black Friday were not real price reductions compared to the normal prices of the reduced products in the months and days before Black Friday.

For price reductions to be considered real, and not misleading or deceptive, the before price of the goods must have been in vigour for a longer period of time before Black Friday.

A new set of guidelines have been issued to ensure that the retail trade’s offers are real price savings:the normal price of a reduced good must have been  in place at least 30 days prior to the reduced price to be able to be called the normal price and be compared with the price on offer.

Also a reduced price offer may only be in place for 10 days instead of the former 14 days.

Interestingly the new guideline means that if a product is sold at a reduced price on 24 November, then this price becomes the new normal price and any Christmas offer must thus be measured against the 24 November price.  So maybe the offers before Christmas could be even more intersting?

Find tips on where to check the prices below.

If you want to be sure that the price of a product, which you want to buy, really offers an important price reduction, it can be good idea prior to Black Friday to check the price on sites which compare prices, such as for instance pricerunner.dk.

You can also look to Black Friday sites such as blackfridaydanmark, or blackfriday 

It is always a good idea to go online and check who else has the product on offer and at which price, so the advice from consumer organisations such as Tænk.

Black Friday has become the start of the Christmas shopping season and many Danes take advantage of the price offers to do some Christmas shopping.

All of the large department-stores, such as Salling and Magasin, are promoting good offers and reductions on many items, and of course the DIY chains such as Silvan, Bauhaus, as well as furniture stores Ilva and BoConcept, EL Giganten, Bilka and more.

Most shops stay open from 10:00 to 22:00 or until midnight on the 24 November.

On-line shops are advertising Black Friday deals – starting of course just after midnight on the 23 November.

The general advice to consumers, from the web shops participating in Black Friday, is to prepare what you want to buy and be ready when the shops open their sale just after midnight.

Many web shops only have a limited stock of the selected items, so there is a first come first serve tendency.

In Denmark, several sites give good advice and list web shops with offers, such as the sites blackfridaydanmark, blackfredagstilbud.dk and blackfriday.dk.

If you are going to one or more of the many shops and retailers participating in Black Friday, be prepared for crowds and remember not to let anyone watch you enter your pin-code when you make payments to keep your Dankort or credit card safe!