Black Friday: Shoppers warned most offers are not cheaper

Shoppers searching for Black Friday bargains are being warned that most deals do not offer genuine discounts.

Analysis of more than 200 offers last Black Friday found 98% were cheaper or the same price at other times in the year, consumer group Which? said.

The warning comes as the number of people hitting UK shops this Black Friday is forecast at 12.8% higher than 2021, retail experts Springboard said.

Many are under extra pressure to make savings as the cost of living rises.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the busiest dates in the retail calendar. Previous years have seen a shopping frenzy featuring long queues, empty shelves and scenes of customers fighting over the last cut price television set.

This year prices are rising at their fastest rate in over 40 years prompting Christmas shoppers to search for savings. But Which? warned that Black Friday was "rarely the cheapest time to shop".

It analysed 214 Black Friday deals last year at seven major home and tech retailers - Amazon, AO, Argos, Currys, John Lewis, Richer Sounds and Very. It looked at their prices every day in the six months before and after the sale day which was 26 November 2021.

Out of the deals analysed, Which? found 183 or 86% were cheaper or the same as their Black Friday price in the six months before the sales event.

Some 209 deals or 98% were cheaper or the same price at other times in the year. None were cheaper on Black Friday alone.

It found that at department store John Lewis, an £869 Bosch fridge was £20 cheaper after the Black Friday sale and remained so until the next year.

John Lewis's spokesperson said the offers in Which?'s research were part of its Never Knowingly Undersold price match pledge, which has now been retired.

Which? also found that some retailers temporarily raised prices of goods just before Black Friday, so they would seem discounted by the time the sales day arrived.

It found that a £279 Toshiba TV at online retailer Very included a £100 discount on Black Friday. But the TV was only priced at £379 for three days in the month before Black Friday.

Which? named Amazon and Very as "the worst retailers overall for dubious discounts". It found more than 70% of products included in its analysis were cheaper at other times of the year compared to their Black Friday price.

Amazon said it offered low prices all year round as well as a number of seasonal deals events.

"Our Black Friday sale offers thousands of deals from every category across the site at a time of year when we know saving money is important to our customers," an Amazon spokesperson said. The BBC has approached Very for comment.

Which? retail editor Reena Sewraz said finding a good deal on Black Friday was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

She added: "It's rarely the cheapest time to shop and you'll probably find the things you want are the same price or cheaper as we head towards Christmas, the New Year and beyond."

Argos said that its Black Friday deals were "no exception" to its "great prices" throughout the year, whilst online retailer AO told Which? that its Black Friday deals were "but one part of the many deals" they offered throughout the year.

Audio and video retailer Richer Sounds said manufacturers often had excess stock left over after sales which they need to sell, so kept the prices of those items low for much of the rest of the year.

Impulse can often be the enemy of your finances - especially during the run-up to the festive season.

Whether it is getting a good deal, or protecting yourself from scams, there is usually merit in stepping back and considering what you are doing, especially when buying online.

Fraudsters exploit any kind of frenzy, such as demand for discounts, or shortages of a particular product.

An astonishing £100m a month is lost to fraud. Experts urge people to take their time, watch out for bogus websites, and ensure sellers are genuine. The Take Five campaign has some basic advice.

Patience is also key when deciding whether you have the budget for what you might consider a good deal. Advisers say "money in" your account should be the first consideration, rather than "money off" the price. The consumer group Which? has a guide on shopping during Black Friday and beyond.

The number of people setting out to search for bargain in shops across the UK is expected to be higher this year, according to Springboard.

UK shopping centres are set to see 16% more customers than 2021 - although overall, footfall is expected to still be below pre-pandemic levels, it said.

Springboard added that UK high streets would see a 13.2% bump in footfall compared with last year.

Meanwhile, scams rise by a third around Black Friday, according to analysis by Lloyds Bank, with most fraud connected with clothes purchases.

The bank said the volume of scams soared by 29% around Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2021.

"Fraudsters use social media to post scam offers. They can even send them straight to your inbox. Always search for deals yourself," Lloyds Bank warned.