The money saving expert Martin Lewis has issued a stern warning to Britain's shoppers about Black Friday, saying that some of the 'deals' on offer might not be good deals at all.
The finance guru has told consumers to be wary of the fact that not all 'deals' will actually save you money during next week's sales.
In a tweet, Lewis wrote: "My Black Friday shopping memo… if you were going to buy it anyway and it's half price, you've saved 50%. If you weren't going to buy it, but do because it's half price you've wasted 100%."
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Lewis' comment comes just as major retailers launch their Black Friday sales early, with discounts on many different gadgets and tech products already available.
On his website MoneySavingExpert.com, Lewis also warned consumers against waiting for the pre-Christmas sales. He said: "Based on our evidence, if the item you've been planning to buy is discounted by a decent amount on Black Friday, you're taking a risk to wait and see if it will be cheaper in the pre-Christmas sales."
His colleague, MSE assistant deals editor Laura Berry, added: "Just because an item is on sale on Black Friday, doesn't mean you can't get it cheaper at another time of year.
"In 2021, price comparison website PriceSpy, for example, found that 27,276 (22%) of the 124,550 of goods it checked were cheaper in the run-up to Black Friday rather than on the day itself."
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One way to check you're really getting a good deal on Black Friday and Cyber Monday is to make a document or spreadsheet of the gadgets you're eyeing up for Christmas ahead of time.
Use it to take a note of prices before the discounts start, and links to the product pages from a a few different websites (like Amazon, AO, Currys, or elsewhere).
That way, if what you want goes on sale, you'll be able to see exactly how much it originally cost—or if slick retailers have simply played with the pricing to make it look like a bargain.
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- Black Friday
- Martin Lewis
- Money
- Deals
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