Moving On magazine Careers and Qualifications for School Leavers
Shoppers are being warned to watch out for false bargains in the Boxing Day sales this year – especially when it came to ‘big ticket’ items. These items are among the most expensive things in the sales, and will include items like furniture, cars, kitchens, and more.
As estimates suggest that more people will take advantage of the sales than in previous years, there will be many who are looking for a bargain in January. However, not all of the reductions that you see in the shops are genuine. Research has found that, in the case of kitchens for example, a number of retailers raised their prices back in November to create a ‘false’ sale price on their items in January.
In some cases the products are only sold at the full price for a few weeks in the year in order to create the appearance that a bargain was being offered after Christmas. Steve Collinge, managing director of the Insight Retail Group, who have conducted research into these false sale prices, explained that retailers only needed to sell a product at the list price for 28 days every six months in order to advertise a discount legally.
This means that a product could legally be “on sale” for 150 days out of every 180. Speaking on the raising of kitchen prices before Christmas, Mr. Collinge said, “People are being duped into buying kitchens in January. In reality the sorts of offers on display in many stores are available all year round, apart from a few selected days when they fulfil their legal obligations. The whole thing is constructed to attract customers and is not just a problem with kitchens – this is used on other products too.”
Fortunately for shoppers a number of big-name retailers have stopped this practice, including John Lewis, Ikea and B&Q.
B&Q spokesperson, William Ostrom explained, “Sale shopping for ‘big ticket’ items is a risky business, and many people are tempted to spend large amounts in haste and end up repenting at leisure. By removing the pressure associated with limited sales deals and keeping our prices consistently competitive and low year-round, we now give our customers the time to make decisions which are right for their homes as well as their wallets.”
With many online Boxing Day sales starting on Christmas Eve there is a belief that physical footfall in the high street may decline as more people shop online while off work of college for the holidays. House of Fraser declared that Boxing Day was their busiest day for website traffic last year, while browsing on Amazon is expected to increase by 500% this Boxing Day.
With the average family estimated to be spending £650 in the 12 days after Christmas there is plenty of competition for your money – just don’t be caught out by a fake ‘sale!’
