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Plan your ‘Black Friday’ purchases

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This week,shopping-minded Norwegians will go crazy in the shops.Price experts ask you to check prices carefully before trading,and warn that many products
actually rise in price on Black Friday.

 

“It is easy to get blinded and tempted in a discount jungle that just grows and becomes increasingly insidious. November is quite a wild month, when it’s easy to get
out of control if you do not plan your purchases” said price expert, Are Vittersø, general manager of the Independent Price Comparison Service Prisjakt.no. The search engine monitors 5.8 million prices of nearly half a million products, distributed in 2500 online stores.

‘’We have just finished ‘Singles Day’ (November 11th).On Monday, Black Week begins,culminating in Black Friday, beginning with Black Weekend before ending with Cyber Monday,next Monday. It’s quite possible to make many purchases on these days, but if you’re sure to find great deals,there’s no doubt that Black Friday is the day of the year where most of the products are at their cheapest’’ said Vittersø.

“People should also be aware that some products go up in price” he said.

In a new overview,Prisjakt.no has compared price increases and price reductions on the 10,000 most sought after and popular products in the e-commerce market just before, during and after Black Friday last year.

‘’The trend is clear. Among the products that fell 10% or more in price, both the discounted rates – and the average discount rate – slowly increased for each day
we approach Black Friday.On Monday in the Black Week,the average discount was 18%, while on Black Friday the average was 20%. The proportion of products that
increase in price is even at 3-5% throughout the week,but more than doubles in the days after Black Friday” said Vittersø.

Last year,iPhone 7 (32GB) became the big winner on Black Friday, followed by Sony Playstation Slim (500GB),and Samsung Galaxy S8 (64GB). Mobile phones,
headphones,TVs, and game consoles were the most popular categories,while games/accessories, jackets and laptops were the categories where most of the
products went down 10% or more in price, and where the discount rate was highest.

Jackets also top the list of categories where most single models went up in price during the Black Friday last year,in front of mobile phones and headphones. The brands with a share of products that fell most in price on Black Friday last year were Playstation, Asus and Huawei.

‘’The best advice I can give is that people check the promotional offers and check and compare prices at multiple stores to make sure they are getting a great deal.It’s also important that you do not look blindly at the offers, but actually focus on real prices’’ said Are Vittersø.

Here is the best advice the price expert in planning the Black Friday trade can give.

Schedule in good time and make a list.Make an overview of the products you want to buy, check what they cost and decide on a budget you can afford to spend.

Create a price alert and monitor prices. If you create a price alert on favourite products on a price comparison service,you can monitor price developments and will be notified if the product is down.This way you also see if the product goes up in price, avoiding being misled by sudden price reductions that look like big discounts.

Be aware.If you trade from foreign online stores,there may be other terms and conditions of purchase than in Norwegian online stores. Remember that you also have to pay for shipping and customs. Also, make sure that the store actually has the item in stock.

Think about it. Keep monitoring.Do not forget that there will be sales later, both after Christmas and in the New Year.

Source: prisjakt.no / Norway Today

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