Black Friday not the cheapest day of the year, says Which

Almost half of electricals products ‘on offer’ during Black Friday promotions in the UK are actually cheaper in the months before or after the much-hyped discount day, according to an investigation.

The Which? consumer association tracked deals on 20 popular tech gadgets and home appliances on Amazon, AO, Sainsbury-owned Argos, Dixons Carphone-owned Currys and John Lewis for three months before and two months after Black Friday last year.

The results showed that only 51% of the products were the cheapest on Black Friday with the remainder being cheaper before or after the day.

Majority of products at 38% were cheaper in the weeks after Black Friday followed by 12% being cheaper before and only 8% being the cheapest on the actual day.

The charity also found that many retailers may be breaking government guidelines by inflating the ‘was’ price to make the deals look better than they are.

For example some retailers offered a discount like ‘was £100 now £50’ by quoting a price from six months ago rather than the most recent price the item was sold at for 28 consecutive days or more.

Head of campaigns Pete Moorey said: “Shoppers might be surprised to learn that only half of Black Friday deals are actually cheapest on Black Friday. If you’re thinking about starting your Christmas shopping around Black Friday, do your research as some ‘deals’ may not be all they’re cracked up to be.”