Black Friday Ads: Misleading Deals & Scams to Avoid

• Pomme Rademaker

  editor Economics

Many Black Friday discounts are misleading, according to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). The regulator investigated 24 major online and physical retailers. Three quarters do not follow the rules.

Several stores are offering fake discounts. The ACM mainly sees things going wrong when stating the ‘starting price’. The rule is that the from price must be the lowest price of the last 30 days. However, it is often unclear on which price the discount is based, and the discount is sometimes based on a suggested retail price that was not the same as the sales price.

Sellers make discounts seem bigger than they are. “This is not only misleading consumers, but also unfair competition with companies that do adhere to the rules. That is why we are taking action against this,” says Fleur Severijns of the ACM.

A number of companies were already reprimanded last year. Five companies, including Leen Bakker and Jysk, were fined more than 100,000 euros for their fake discounts.

The ACM later included all found examples of cheating in a so-called guideline, which was intended to prevent retailers from continuing to mislead consumers. Retailers who are caught with fake discounts can no longer argue that they did not know that their offer is not allowed. The guidelines apply to both physical stores and online shops.

However, 18 of the 24 stores surveyed now appear not to be adhering to the rules. The shopkeepers received a letter alerting them to the violations. Because they are still allowed to defend themselves, the brand names remain unmentioned. If it turns out that these stores have actually violated the law, they can also expect a fine from the ACM.

The Consumers’ Association has also recently conducted research into fake offers and has concluded that Amazon, Wehkamp and Bol, among others, are guilty of this.

According to the association, Amazon advertises with crossed-out recommended prices that are usually higher than the sales prices. The American company does not respond to questions from NOS.

Wehkamp would advertise, for example, with an offer on a game that cost 30.99 euros in the period before the offer. During the offer there was a discount of 30 percent and a retail price of 35.69 euros. Wehkamp says that it has recently made adjustments to comply with the law.

Bol says he does not recognize the picture painted by the Consumers’ Association. Because prices on a platform can fluctuate quickly and are sometimes only valid for a short time, Bol says that the ‘lowest price in 30 days’ is not a representative comparison for consumers. For this reason, Bol says he assumes a ‘usually price’.

Assistant Professor of Marketing at Maastricht University Niels Holtrop thinks that many more stores are violating the rules, because it is difficult for the ACM to check all stores. “The range is so large that ACM cannot oversee the entire market. So many stores get away with it.”

According to Holtrop, smaller stores in particular can get away with fake discounts, because large chains attract more attention from regulators. At the same time, smaller stores have a greater need to use discounts to compete with larger competitors. “Price competition is a weapon that consumers are sensitive to. Customers very quickly go elsewhere.”

According to the ACM, retailers are becoming increasingly creative with their discounts, so consumers do not realize that they are fake offers. Holtrop says that it is attractive for stores to be creative with discounts, because they know that consumers are sensitive to this.

“We often don’t know what the original price is, and because a discount is only valid for a limited time, you don’t want to miss the offer. That’s why many people fall for it,” says Holtrop. His advice: “Don’t rely on the price shown in the webshop, but compare it with the rest of the year. Only then can you see whether it is really a good price.”