A FORMER supermarket worker has lifted the lid on what shops don’t tell us ahead of the Black Friday sales.
Black Friday is taking place tomorrow (November 25) and always falls on the day after Thanksgiving in the US.
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Many retailers have already unveiled their Black Friday sales, while some have opted out.
It can be a day of huge savings for consumers, with shops offering mega deals, but there’s some secrets they don’t want us to know.
Al Baker, 48, from Hampshire, work in a supermarket for two years and has shared his top tips for how to get more bang for your buck.
The dad-of-two shares money-saving tips on his blog, The Penny Pincher.
Al said: “On the whole, you can grab some great deals, but we’ve all heard the stories about how retailers actually charge more for goods on Black Friday deals than they have done previously, and some of these stories are indeed true – though obviously, this isn’t every store and every deal.”
The former shop assistant has shared some of his inside knowledge ahead of Black Friday – and what we should be on the lookout for.
Price hikes before the big day
Al claims that, rather than just offering discounts off the standard price, some retailers hike up the RRP weeks before the sales begin.
He explained: “I used to work for a well-known retailer back before Black Friday sales were a thing in the UK, and the big deals were usually the Boxing Day sales and a summer discount event.”
He added that customers would see products discounted to £500 and save £250 on these types of offers.
While they would always be crowd pleasers, Al saw products being brought in just for the sales that had never been sold in-store before on many occasions.
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The deals would be on big screen TVs from relatively unknown brands you’d never heard of before, or a £50 microwave reduced from £250 and similar type deals.
But there would only be 10 stocked per store, leading people to stand outside the store from 4am to make sure they got the deal.
Al says the same thing can happen on Black Friday as well.
A retailer must have offered the product at a higher price for a minimum of 28 days in the previous six months to advertise the product at a reduced price.
He said: “This is why you might see a TV in a shop advertised at £500 for a few weeks, which then magically gets half priced for a sale event – it’s a bit of a ruse to get the customer excited about a deal and spend their money.
“I used to see the same products shoot up in price in November, to magically be hugely discounted down at the end of December… it happened every time!”
Hidden meaning behind the new prices
Al claims there is also a furtive code hidden on the price tag which can give you a hint as to whether or not you should hold out for a better deal.
He said: “One of the biggest pieces of handy information can be the price itself – look at the last two digits of a price.
“If the price ends in 97p, this means that the product is discontinued and that the store is clearing out all remaining stock at a discount.
“If the products price ends in 98p, it can mean that the product is clearance and likely to be discontinued shortly, meaning that it’s worth hanging on for a bit longer if you can, as it’s likely that the price will reduce soon and move to a lower discontinued price.
But, not all shops use this system, but for those that do it’s usually a guide for the staff so they can look at a product and immediately know its stock status.
If a customer then asks if the store is getting more stock in soon, it can give an informed guess as to how likely that is.
In the case of stores who still pay staff commission, it helps the salesperson to switch sell you to something that’s still a current line, and likely to be in stock.
Al says its best to have a look for any dates on the ticket as well.
If the date is in the past, that’s the last date the ticket was printed and the last time the product’s price was likely to have been changed.
If it was a long time ago, it’s likely that the price might change soon.
If the date is in the future, that’s when the advertised price is likely to end.
He added: “So it will help you decide between buying right now or waiting to think about it – which for expensive purchases, is always worth sleeping on.
“If the date is still a good few days away, you have time to think, while if it’s dated tomorrow, you need to decide quickly.”
Cheat the system
Al has also shared a few sneaky ways you can cheat the system during the promotional weekend, even after you’ve purchased something.
He says not to open the product immediately, but instead wait and if you bough today and the price goes down tomorrow, then you can always speak to the store about a price match.
Or in the case of bigger items like sofas or white goods, cancel the order if they won’t honour the new price.
For an item you already have, you could return it and then buy it again at a lower price.
Al said: “Knowing the price ticket end date gives you that extra advantage of knowing when the price might change so you might be able to grab it cheaper or equally gain the reassurance that if the price went up, you knew to buy when the price was lowest.”
The secret code of commissioned-based staff
With some staff working on commission, Al has revealed the code on products that help you decide if the salesman is being truthful before you make a hefty purchase.
He said: “Check if the ticket has the letters R, A or G printed on it, especially in higher-priced item stores. Normally you will find this in stores where staff are paid a margin-related bonus on their sales: R = Red, A = Amber, G = Green.
“This is a margin indicator; Red means low margin, Amber means it’s middle of the road, and G means it’s a good margin.”
He says that staff members may try to coerce you into purchasing a green-rated product and will do whatever they can to stop you from buying a red-rated product, as their paycheck will be bigger when they sell more green.
Finally, Al urges shoppers to remain savvy with purchases.
He said: “In these harder times, it’s worth remembering that a discount is only a discount if you actually intended to buy the item in the first place.
“If you didn’t, you haven’t saved money – you’ve spent more money than intended, and right now that is not the most sensible of things to do.”
Don’t forget to follow our Black Friday blog, which is is live now and will continue to be updated throughout the rest of the week.
Remember, Black Friday isn’t just for buying items, you can pick up home broadband and TV offers as well
