Published on November 20, 2023, 8:31 pm / ©pexles
Black Friday alert – just under a week away! AK warns: Countdowns, limited quantities, etc. are among the tricks used by suppliers to ensure consumers buy quickly.
by Carolina Jakubovic
1 minute reading time (111 words)
Don’t let yourself be pressured, they don’t have to be bargains! Be careful, criminals also use Black Friday to commit fraud Fake store offers Steal money and data.
All that glitters is not always gold!
November 24th is Black Friday and already advertises itself with slogans such as “Are you ready to save a lot?”, “The promotion of the year in Austria” or “Get the best offers”. But not everything that glitters is always gold! Retailers also know that they can attract many customers with supposed bargains.
Black Friday Countdown – Great Deals or Scam?
- Beware of dealer tricks: Whether it’s limited-time special offers, countdowns or very limited offers – these are all part of the tricks used by stores so that you don’t have to think twice before buying a product. Be careful, it doesn’t have to be a bargain! However, resellers always need to report the lowest price in the last 30 days.
- Check prices: Check price developments on comparison platforms such as geizhals.at or idealo.at. This way you can see if you are actually saving a lot of money with the supposedly great deals!
- See the fine print: Best actions are useless if there are too many exceptions. Advertising on Black Friday, for example, promises discounts of up to “minus 90%” and then the small print shows that this only applies to very few products. You can often only save on older products.
- Please note additional costs: High shipping and additional costs can make cheap products more expensive. This may be possible, for example, for transported bulky goods or deliveries from other EU countries where customs duties are incurred. And if you don’t like the merchandise, paying for return shipping yourself can be expensive. Always find out where the dealer is located and what costs are involved. See the legal notice and general terms and conditions!
- What applies where when withdrawing: When purchasing online, you generally have a right of withdrawal of 14 days from the date you receive the goods, exceptions include goods that perish quickly. None of this applies to stores unless the stores voluntarily grant you the right to remove or exchange the item.
- Be careful, fake store traps: Criminals also use Black Friday to steal money and data from consumers with fraudulent offers from fake stores. Be careful if you find great deals through advertising, posts or videos. Check what others say about a store, whether it accepts different forms of payment and whether it is visibly cheap. Check www.fakeshop.at/shopcheck if you are dealing with a fraudulent supplier.
A warning: This post was updated on November 20, 2023 at 8:40 pm.