Use PriceMe to ensure your Black Friday deal is REALLY a deal!
Black Friday. Relatively new to the Kiwi shopper, Black Friday is rapidly becoming as big, if not bigger than Boxing Day for online shopping and great deals and sales across New Zealand. This year is not going to be any different and with so many of us feeling the financial pinch of rising bills (make sure you compare your broadband and power bills too!) that means that we need good bargains more than ever – but we don’t have money to waste.
So, this year Black Friday could be something you ignore as you try to save money or it could be something you are relying on to make Christmas work. If you’re feeling the pressure to spot the serious savings then PriceMe is here to help you find the real deals. Don’t just take our word for it, last week saw the Commerce Commission and Consumer NZ release information featured on One News recommending the Kiwi consumer that you should use sites like PriceMe to compare the cost of goods and ensure you get what is a real deal! Watch the snippet from the news below.
This year, our festival of shopping falls on November 25th. Remember, though, although all the talk is about Black FRIDAY often retailers turn it into ‘Black Friday WEEK’ with deals and discounts being advertised well in advance and running for more than just the one day.
Black Friday is the prime time for retailers to make you buy things you don’t actually need! BUT if you know there’s a specific item you’re looking for then waiting until Black Friday Week is a great time to hunt it down!
Make sure you’re watching for bargains NOW – at least a week in advance. BUT the other side of this is not to be rushed. Some websites will make deals time limited and even warn that ‘product is low’ or that other people are shopping. That can be a clever marketing trick designed to put pressure on you and stop you thinking clearly about whether it’s a genuine deal and get you to buy now.
Thinking about what you actually want in advance and how much you want to pay will help you avoid being rushed into a bad ‘bargain’. If you are on a tight budget, you don’t want to be rushed into buying something you didn’t actually want, after all you’re only saving money if you were going to buy it anyway! If you get sucked in by clever marketing and spend Christmas money on something that isn’t on the list then you will have less cash for the stuff you do need – or risk going into debt…
So have a think about the risk of impulse buying in advance, and it can then be easier to avoid it on the day when you see those ‘deals’.
Some research from price comparison websites shows that on average - over the last three Black Fridays, 13% of products increased in price between 1st October and the Sunday before Black Friday so that they could then be ‘reduced’ on the day itself and look like a bargain. You can avoid being sucked in by these tricks if you do your research in advance, know what price is normal and compare different sellers to find which is offering an actual bargain.
Be careful of scams
Unfortunately, Black Friday is a goldmine for criminals who use fake deals and offers to get shoppers to hand over sensitive data like credit card and bank details. And the more desperate shoppers are for those deals, the more likely they are to succumb to a scam.
So be careful, especially of deals you see advertised on social media, as that is where a lot of purchase scams originate.
There’s also a risk of criminal website impersonating real and trusted brands. Take the time to think and check a website’s credentials and whether the bargain is simply too good to be true. Remember that criminals will try to rush and panic you.
Most importantly, contact your bank or card provider immediately if you think you’ve fallen for a scam and handed over sensitive data.
Stay safe out there this Black Friday, COMPARE PRICES at PriceMe and make sure you really are getting a deal on something you actually need.
Happy bargain hunting! Enjoy!