Black Friday is losing “strength” among national consumers who, increasingly, notice few advantages in the promotions that take place at this time. The problem is the increase in prices before these promotions.
Several brands are accused of inflate prices before , which makes purchasing products at the time of this campaign not very advantageous for consumers.
Worten is one of the brands targeted by consumer complaints on the platform, a news aggregator where users can share content and participate in discussions on various topics.
“I’m monitoring appliances that I already chose a few weeks ago for a new house and I can guarantee that since the start of Black Friday, they are all more expensive na”, laments a user of .
Another user of the platform reveals that he purchased a robot vacuum cleaner for 179 euros on the Worten website, on October 21st, and says that after a few days, he realized that the same vacuum cleaner was being sold for 299 euros as part of a zero ICMS campaign.
Dish machine increased by 180 euros in one month
Susana also detected a similar situation. This consumer from Santa Maria da Feira wants to buy a dishwasher at an interesting price and has been following the prices at Worten.
That’s how he noticed that a machine that at the beginning of October cost 749 euros is now for sale for 929 euros – is a increase of 180 euros in about a month.
The same machine is being sold on the website for 743 euros with the indication that the Recommended Public Sale Price (PVPR) is 929 euros.
“Prices have gone up like crazy in the last few weeks”
Another consumer notes on Reddit that he purchased a dishwasher for 439 euros on October 12th, in addition to other products. Now, they are “all more expensive” and “none are listed with Black Friday”, which means that “anything from now on will be launched with a discount”, he adds.
Another Reddit user complains that “some prices have gone up like crazy in recent weeks.”
This is, in fact, a practice already known in several brands, and which does not only occur on Black Friday.
A consumer on Reddit speaks of the sale of wine in hypermarkets as a “scam”. Thus, he points out that they put “wines from 3 euros to 10 euros” and that “then they make a 50% discount”, selling “crap that was no longer worth 3 euros to 5 euros, increasing margins [de lucro] by two thirds.”
Track prices with Excel
Consumers are increasingly aware of these situations and there are those who do “an Excel list” of what you want to buy to monitor prices over the months.
The person using this method is Filipa, a resident of Porto, who is looking for a washing machine new. In your Excel list, only one machine became more expensive in this one month period, going from 347 euros to 377 euros in the online store.
There is also a washing machine at the Worten outlet that sells products with some defect, which reduced the price from 324 euros to 275 euros.
Therefore, consumers can make good deals, as long as they pay attention to the products sold.
The best deals aren’t always on Black Friday
Another consumer who uses the Excel method reports on Reddit that “the lowest prices” he has found are those of “Black Friday at the beginning of January”.
Other consumers believe that the best deals “are always at the beginning of November and not exactly during Black Friday week.”
Os days without VAT they usually pay off more than this particular promotion season, point out other people who have been paying attention to prices.
There is also shopping in some traditional stores which may be cheaper during Black Friday promotions, compared to the prices charged in large supermarkets at this time.
There are still consumers who purchase from international stores at more advantageous prices, but the process can result in “lots of headaches” In the case of complaints about broken or damaged equipment, they vent.
To monitor the sales values practiced in Portugal, for the most diverse products, you can always use Deco, the Consumer Protection Association.
