Black Friday deals: Five things to watch out for

As the focus switches from politics to shopping, retailers will be hoping the glitz and glamour of Black Friday sales will make up for a flat few months of spending.

But when is a deal really a deal? Past analysis by the likes of Consumer NZ has found just because it's November and there's a big flashy sign promising a sale, that doesn't always mean there is one.

While technically Black Friday - the Friday immediately following Thanksgiving Day in the United States - isn't until 27 November this year, the hype is already in full swing. Some outlets have already started offering deals, stretching the definition of the term 'Friday' to its limit.

Last year Consumer found the word 'sale' was also being abused, particularly by big-box retailers, where "prices were not shifting that much".

"What we feel with Harvey Norman in particular, and Noel Leeming to an extent, is that there is potential that they could be misleading the customer because the price isn't changing that much but the customer is very much getting an impression that there is a huge deal, sale or special opportunity to be had early every single week," head of research and advocacy Gemma Rasmussen told Morning Report.

"We think that's a little bit sneaky, that's not quite right."

Other retailers, including Briscoes and Farmers, used a "rhythmic" up-and-down strategy "contributing to a chaotic, 'FOMO' energy".

Whereas Briscoes and Farmers would have an item on sale for a week or two, then off for about the same length of time, Harvey Norman would have items listed as on sale - sometimes even going out of stock - for up to 10 of the 12 weeks tracked.

Sometimes retailers would even put prices up, but change the signage to give the impression it had gone down, Consumer's Abby Damen told Afternoons during last year's Black Friday sales.

"It's a little bit of smoke and mirrors."

So, what can buyers do to avoid falling for the illusion, or tell when a price truly is magic?

Consumer this year gave five tips on how not to get sucked in.

'Do your homework'

Check an item's price history using a service like PriceMe or PriceSpy. For example, anyone interested in picking up a Samsung Galaxy A57 phone should now it's recently been selling for $785, and has been as low as $689 as recently as July. Harvey Norman might be selling it for $1172 now - perhaps ahead of a drop for Black Friday - but had it for just $718 in June.

Consumer's research found just three of 49 items tracked were at their cheapest during Black Friday sales - Boxing Day was a better bet for price-conscious shoppers.

'Look past the sales hype'

Consumer says retailers use "vague sales language" to imply a sale when there isn't one.

As an example, Noel Leeming has the A57 phone we looked at above for $1199 - clearly not a particularly low price - listed on its website as a "special offer", despite PriceSpy data showing it's the highest price Noel Leeming has ever asked for the phone. JB Hi-Fi has it for $1172, which in its words is a "red hot deal", but it's almost twice the price PB Tech is asking in its Black Friday deal for the same phone.

"This continual promotional pricing, designed to give customers the impression they're paying less than they usually would, is potentially misleading and a breach of the Fair Trading Act," Consumer says.

'Ignore the RRP'

Consumer says while retailers like to compare prices to the 'recommended retail price', it's ultimately meaningless because retailers can charge "whatever they like".

"It can be misleading for a retailer to compare its prices to the RRP, unless it's the genuine RRP and the retailer can show that the product is for sale at that price elsewhere."

'Question scarcity claims'

If a product isn't scarce or going out of stock, retailers aren't allowed to create a sense of urgency by claiming they are.

"It can be hard to tell whether scarcity messages are legit. They're usually annoying and leave people feeling manipulated; other times they're just not useful," Consumer says.

In 2022 an online retailer owned by The Warehouse Group was fined more than $800,000 for lying about its stock levels.

'Check that a special is genuine'

Bringing it full circle is Consumer's final piece of advice - make sure a sale really is a sale.

"If a business continually sells a product at a discounted price, then that's the usual selling price - it's not a special."

Check an item's price history - a retailer might have put the price up just a few weeks ago so they can claim it's been knocked down for Black Friday, when really, it hasn't.

"The retailers are very aware of what the rules are and how to kind of skirt that fine line," Rasmussen told RNZ last year.

"We are aware that shoppers are definitely a lot more vulnerable to sales at the moment, particularly with the cost of living being as high as it is so we would encourage people to just take a beat, don't be sucked in, think about what your wants and needs are and to use sites like PriceSpy and PriceMe to really get a gauge."