Black Friday and Cyber Monday – 4+1 tips for smart and safe shopping

The Independent Authority “Consumer Ombudsman” and the “European Consumer Centre of Greece” draw the consumers’ attention on the discounts made in the context of Black Friday (November 26) and Cyber Monday (Monday, November 29) and they recommend them the following, so as to make the most out of this shopping experience.

In particular, they recommend them:

1. To be careful during their electronic registration in newsletters. These newsletters will inform the consumers on the discounts that will be made on specific products (i.e. the products they have selected as their preferred ones).

More specifically, the consumers should be wary of the personal information they provide through these newsletters, as they are, in essence, a form of e-marketing and they are widely used by suppliers so as to create personalized customer profiles and to carry out personalized promotions.

2. To separate the real from the fictitious offers, doing their own market research for the products they are interested in, in combination with using the special tools that show the fluctuation of prices and are available from some specific electronic platforms that are used in order to compare products and to make purchases.

3. When placing their orders, to give special emphasis and importance, in addition to the price, to other critical information related to the speed of delivery of their products. More specifically,:

(a) They should pay attention to the availability of the product, taking into account the obstacles and the constraints which, at international level, affect the production and movement of goods; and

(b) They should also bear in mind the expected delivery time of the products through the postal services. The main goal is that the consumers not experience any dissatisfaction and frustration from any excessive and/or indefinite waiting times.

4. They should also avoid buying products, even if they are sold at very attractive prices, from online stores that have websites of dubious legitimacy (i.e. websites that don’t provide the address or the contact details of the shop and/or the the company, that contain “dead” links or links in the terms of use or privacy policy with incoherent content or websites that channel communication with consumers exclusively through social media applications, such as viber, messenger, etc.).