Animal instinct or how are we robbed on Black Friday?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Traditionally, Black Friday is not only a day of massive sales, but also a day when the number of fraudulent and outright thieves is on the rise. For this reason, it is necessary to constantly remember to maintain increased vigilance. The worst of all is not with real stores, but with online shopping sites. If you do not want to lose your hard-earned money, then it is worth remembering a number of important subtleties.

All around deception

The sad reality is that not every online store on the network remembers the word "decency" during Black Friday. Many of the online discounts on offer are not really discounts. The calculation is made primarily on the "instinct of the crowd" and excitement: people will try to buy at a bargain price everything that comes to hand. The method of introducing a discount, after preliminary winding up the price, still works great.

It is also worth remembering that no store will ever give a discount on a truly new product. More or less large discounts are possible only for stale products that need to be sold during the promotion, since they are not in demand the rest of the time. However, even in this case, offers with a discount of more than 50% of the price should be alarming.

Discounts that are not there

One of the most common ways to cheat consumers, which is practiced not only on Black Fridays. We are talking about such a simple trick as indicating two prices, one of which is crossed out, and the second, (allegedly) resulting from a discount. In fact, the crossed out price has most often never existed and is a markup. But the "discount" price tag is actually the real cost of the product.

Bonuses, coupons, two for the price of one

All these are also "legal divorces" of honest consumers. Bonuses and coupons are actually already woven into the company's pricing policy. They are needed only so that a person either once again visits a shopping facility, or buys additional goods in the hope of saving some percentage. As for the "gift" goods, this is another psychological trick. Most often, the cost of such "gifts" is divided into the prices of other goods, or the gift has long ceased to be liquid in the market and is of no value to the store.

Real bandits

When a shopping rush begins in stores and on the Internet, then there is a place not only for "small legal fraud", but also for real criminals. The number of phishing pages and fake Internet resources disguised as real shops has traditionally been on the rise on Black Friday. The only purpose of such resources is to steal personal data of plastic cards and bank accounts of citizens. Attackers also use malware by sending it in emails disguised as advertisements for promotions in retail chains and on Internet sites.

Last tip

Despite all of the above, Black Friday can really help save money. After all, this day is a powerful advertising tool in the hands of stores, as well as an excellent reason to sell illiquid goods, which under normal conditions almost no one takes. However, do not rush to the store headlong and buy up everything that comes to hand. It is best to prepare for such promotions in advance - to look for the right product, and after the "marketing frenzy" takes effect, compare prices and see if the offered discount on the much-desired TV is really a discount.