Black Friday 2024: All the sneaky ways you can be tricked into spending more money

MoneyMagpie Editor and fiscal adept Vicky Parry shares tips to marque definite you’re not the unfortunate of a scam successful the Black Friday sales

Black Friday is simply a reasonably caller improvement successful the UK, a transplant from our friends successful the USA.

It is expected to beryllium a large clip to drawback up immoderate fantastic deals, peculiarly perfect for stocking up connected your Christmas gifts portion redeeming immoderate cash. However, the emergence of Black Friday brings with it the emergence of scams, particularly online. Follow these tips to marque definite you’re getting a genuine woody successful the merchantability and you’re not being taken for a scammy ride.

Only bargain what you need

Before we look a spotting a scam, retrieve the cardinal Black Friday endurance tip: lone bargain what you need. It is truthful casual to beryllium drawn successful by the entreaty of amazing discounts and deals. However, it’s casual to overspend and extremity up with things you didn’t truly privation oregon request erstwhile the buzz of getting a large woody is over.

If you’re readying to usage Black Friday to banal up connected things you need, oregon to get up with your Christmas shopping, marque a list. And instrumentality to it! This volition assistance you instrumentality to a fund and not get carried away.

Go nonstop to retailer websites

The emergence successful societal media advertizing has besides meant an summation successful scam adverts. How galore times person you scrolled your Instagram feed, lone to spot the aforesaid product, aforesaid video – but a antithetic store advertizing it? These are scams. Fraudsters bargain the videos of the archetypal creators and acceptable up online stores with precise akin names, unreal to connection the merchandise for merchantability and past adjacent the store erstwhile they’ve received immoderate orders. It’s escaped wealth for them, arsenic they’re precise hard to trace, and your recognition paper supplier whitethorn not refund if the acquisition was beneath £100.

If you’ve seen a merchandise advertised connected societal media, look for the merchandise sanction and Google it. Check the websites to find a morganatic retailer – and if they accidental they’re based successful the UK, cheque the institution sanction against Companies House.

Look astatine the transportation details, too. A UK institution based successful the UK should beryllium capable to present an point wrong a fewer days (unless it is bespoke oregon personalised). Many scammers airs arsenic UK companies but past shipping is 2 weeks oregon much – this indicates it is coming from China and not a UK company.

Use a terms tracker

Did you cognize that an point tin lone beryllium advertised arsenic connected merchantability successful the UK if it has been disposable astatine a higher terms for astatine slightest 28 days? Because of this rule, galore retailers volition artificially inflate an item’s terms for the period anterior to Black Friday truthful it tin beryllium reduced – but the simplification lone takes it to the terms it was earlier the artificial hike.

Use a terms tracker instrumentality similar CamelCamelCamel (which is free) erstwhile buying online, particularly if you usage Amazon. It volition archer you the item’s terms history, truthful you tin spot if you’re getting a existent bargain oregon a fake one. You tin besides acceptable up alerts for morganatic terms drops, to bargain an point erstwhile it truly is little successful terms alternatively than a fake discount.

Check bundle discounts

If you spot a woody similar “Buy 3 for lone £100!” you mightiness deliberation it’s a steal. However, cheque the idiosyncratic prices and different buying options – sometimes, you tin get a amended woody buying things separately. For bargain two, get 1 escaped offers, ever retrieve the cheapest point is free, too. So, you’ll get a bully woody if you’re buying 3 likewise priced things – but if you adhd 1 inexpensive happening to the deal, you’re not truly nabbing a bargain.

Look for reviews

If you’re buying from a caller retailer you’ve not tried before, look for 3rd enactment reviews. Don’t spell bargain reviews connected their website – anyone tin adhd them! Use websites similar Trustpilot to find existent reviews and spot immoderate repeated issues specified arsenic transportation delays, non-responsive lawsuit service, oregon radical outright saying they were scammed.

Find the interaction information

A morganatic retailer volition person casual to entree interaction information. They volition connection a postal address, online chat, and an email address. Warning: if the email code is thing similar retailer@gmail.com, steer clear! The email code should extremity successful retailer@retailername.com oregon thing similar, not a Gmail oregon akin address.

If an online retailer lone has a web signifier to interaction them, deliberation doubly astir purchasing from them. This is usually a motion of scam store fronts, giving an illusion of them existing arsenic a institution by offering a interaction signifier – but your email won’t beryllium replied to due to the fact that it’s not a existent retailer and you’ll person nary different mode to interaction them.

Sign up to retailer newsletters

If you person favourite retailers and online shops, marque definite you motion up to their email newsletter. This volition archer you – often up of clip – erstwhile the large discounts are going to land. It tin assistance you program your buying by knowing wherever and erstwhile to marque a purchase, but besides means you’re buying from a trusted root that you cognize and love.

You are apt to besides get entree to other discounts oregon concealed income for signing up to newsletters, truthful it’s ever worthy doing! If you don’t privation to get tons of emails clogging your inbox, acceptable up a abstracted email code for signing up to things.

Some of the brands and websites we notation whitethorn be, oregon whitethorn person been, a spouse of MoneyMagpie.com. However, we lone ever notation brands we judge successful and trust, truthful it ne'er influences who we prioritise and nexus to.