There are over a million searches each November for the best Black Friday deals.
And an estimated £3.95billion will be spent by Britons on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with stores slashing prices to historic lows these days.
The excitement of Black Friday conveys the idea that every bargain is worth it, forcing you to step over other customers to access it!
But, according to Who? research, this is usually not the case! Some six months before Black Friday, 85% of items are the same price or cheaper.
Indeed, only three of the 119 products tracked are at the lowest price during Black Friday.
So, if you are planning to participate in this year’s sale, be sure to look out for fake discounts.
It’s understandable that UK residents are increasingly concerned about their finances and how to cope over the coming months.
Many of us are worried about what impact an increase in the cost of living will have on the Christmas period.
With that in mind, private pension provider Penfold has surveyed how much money will be spent and how much debt people are willing to take on this Christmas.
It’s easy to be tempted to rush in for a bargain, so beware of the traps.
During the Christmas shopping season, stores frequently try to convince you to sign up for store credit cards.
Signing up may eventually entitle you to a discount, but these often come with exorbitant interest rates and below-average rewards.
Also known as cash advances, payday loans are short-term loans with fees and interest rates ranging from 100% to over 400%.
November sees an average 28% increase in demand for Buy Now Pay Later payment methods.
According to recent data, 60% of people have used BNPL’s services to some extent, but 66% of consumers think their use is “financially unsafe”.
The e-commerce data sourcing and analytics software company www.SourceMogul.com, which analyzes more than 20 million products every month to determine price trends, also considered Black Friday.
The data reveals that only 18% of products are cheaper compared to their historical price trends, while 25% of products are actually more expensive!
But there are still ways to score a bargain, the frugal team at NetVoucherCodes.co.uk share ten top tips shoppers should follow to grab the best deals while saving some extra cash.
They advise starting early, having a plan, ignoring impulse purchases, using discount codes, researching prices, doing accounts in advance, checking return policies, remembering Cyber Monday, not using debit cards and monitoring social media.
Always beware of Black Friday fraud and fake websites, warns Sam Whillance, an expert at online e-commerce platform Deal.Town.
“Avoid offers that seem too good to be true, research privacy policies, check for Secure Sockets Layer certificates, check that websites accept credit cards, beware of spelling and grammatical errors, look for telephone numbers and addresses.
“At the end of the day, don’t forget to do your checks and happy bargain hunting!”
