In full re-containment, small traders have fought hard to prevent e-commerce platforms from offering important promotions for the famous "Black Friday".

Eventually, they got a one week postponement.

Because outright ban this day is legally impossible for the executive.

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This is a small victory for small traders: "Black Friday", this day when major promotions are traditionally offered in stores but especially on large e-commerce platforms, will be postponed by a week, December 4 instead of November 27.

In full reconfinement indeed, and while only the withdrawal in store is authorized for the physical businesses, it was according to the latter of the unfair competition.

In fact, they would even have preferred that this "Black Friday" be outright banned, arguing that these discounts are uncontrolled, abusive and misleading for the most part.

But no legal device can block these sales at cut prices.

Only selling at a loss is prohibited

In France, in fact, promotions are not prohibited but legally framed.

Concretely, this means that as much the sales obey strict rules, on the period when they are possible and the prices which can be practiced, as much the promotions, even online, can be done at any time to accelerate the flow of their stocks.

They must simply be very limited in time, which is the case with "Black Friday", and can only relate to a series of products, or be reserved only for regular customers.

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On the other hand, the trader cannot resell products at a lower price than the one at which he bought them.

Selling at a loss is prohibited during promotions.

This is also what is controversial, because the discounts promised during "Black Friday" are sometimes -50 to -70%, which suggests an illegal sale at a loss.

But otherwise, containment or not, it is not possible to prohibit promotions, and therefore "Black Friday". 

On the European Union side, a directive has specified since 2011 that no commercial transaction can be prohibited.

And this in the name of free trade.

Unless it can be demonstrated that this practice is unfair according to specific criteria, "Black Friday" is therefore authorized by the Court of Justice of the European Communities.