Today we name and shame some of the worst discounts already on the market and show you how to spot the duds.
PRODUCT: VAX vacuum cleaner.
RETAILER: Currys PC World.
PRICE: Black Tag price, £129, save £70.99.
WHY A DUD?
Because £129.99 is the non-reduced price of the product at Argos and John Lewis.
It comes as new research reveals more than half of us are planning to check out Black Friday discounts — with an average spend of £206 per person, a report from Virgin Mobile showed this week.
One in ten workers are going further and planning to work from home, pull a sickie or go in late to take maximum advantage of the November sales.
But in spite of the hype, it is worth doing proper research before splashing out on a new vacuum or laptop.
Separate research into Black Friday shopping trends reveals that nine out of ten products are available for cheaper prices at other times of the year.
PRODUCT: Cath Kidston Christmas Stanley toiletry gift set.
RETAILER: Amazon.
PRICE: £10.50.
WHY A DUD? Ocado is selling the same gift set for even less at £10.
The 12-month study by price comparison site idealo.co.uk found games consoles were an average £65 cheaper on October 25 and washing machines were £60 cheaper on October 27.
Laptops were the only category that was cheapest on Black Friday.
Savvy shoppers willing to hang on for a month until around Christmas Eve can snap up 42 per cent off products such as smartphones and tablets, compared with the price they would have paid on Black Friday.
It is also worth bearing in mind that 58 per cent of product categories such as Lego and games consoles were at their most expensive in the four weeks prior to Black Friday, when compared to both the price on the day and the cost in the four weeks building up to it.
PRODUCT: Tefal FX100040 Fry Delight health fryer, 0.8 kg capacity, black.
RETAILER: Amazon.
PRICE: £54.99.
WHY A DUD? Price-tracking sites show the item cost £5 less on Amazon in December last year.
That is because retailers ramp up the price so they can then slash it in the sale.
Idealo’s Katy Phillips said: “Many shoppers naturally believe the hype surrounding Black Friday and are seduced by the big-ticket deals.
“However, our advice is to stay savvy all year round and continually compare prices to unearth even bigger bargains.”
There are various ways of working out if a deal is a dud.
PRODUCT: Disney Princess kids’ bike.
RETAILER: Halfords.
PRICE: £80, down from £115.
WHY A DUD? It might be cheaper than elsewhere at the moment, but it’s been cheaper before. On November 15 last year it was £70 and stayed at that price until December 1. Halfords said there’s a £10 voucher for accessories included.
PRODUCT: Remington S8500 Shine Therapy straightener.
RETAILER: Superdrug.
PRICE: £39.99.
WHY A DUD? Boots is selling it for £36, online seller Studio for £29.99 and Amazon for £26.97.
The first thing to do is run the product through a price comparison site such as Idealo or Google Shopping, and see if the deal you have found is the best price.
That tells you what the best offer on the market is.
For example, a Cath Kidston gift set that was listed as a Deal Of The Day this week on Amazon was surprisingly cheaper from Ocado, so it is always worth checking. Another issue you may find is that the Black Friday price you have found is actually a standard price for that particular item.
A Vax vacuum deal which cost £129 in Currys PC World’s Black Tag sale this week cost £129.99 at various other retailers.
Best Days to Buy
- Drones — £149 cheaper on Sept 26
- Headphones — £37 cheaper on Aug 17
- Lego — £31 cheaper on July 17
- Smartphones — £72 cheaper on Aug 5
- Laptops — LOWEST PRICE ON BLACK FRIDAY
- DSLR cameras — £160 cheaper on Sept 5
- Games consoles — £65 cheaper on Oct 25
- Vacuum cleaners — £29 cheaper on Apr 23
- Tablets — £70 cheaper on May 24
- Washing machines —£60 cheaper on Oct 27
That is the normal price for it elsewhere.
If it is not possible to compare prices, check to see the previous cost on a price-tracking website.
Pricesearcher.com, shows the previous prices of products sold by lots of different retailers, while pricehistory.co.uk tracks the previous price of Argos goods and camelcamelcamel.com shows the previous price of Amazon goods.
If it has been cheaper at other times of the year, it might be worth holding out.
Here is our step-by-step guide on how to get the best prices and then lower them even further, as well as some examples of the worst dud “deals”.
Get an Even Lower Price
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