Everything is prepared in the department stores to open their doors this Thursday, after the Three Kings, to

the January sales

, although many small business establishments have been selling products with 50 and even 70% discounts for days to attract consumers who has been able to lose due to the pandemic.

The social distancing and security measures, which the virus obliges, will make impossible this year the image of yesteryear of many Spaniards jostling and running through the corridors of large centers, such as

El Corte Inglés

, to find the best offers the first.

However, at ten in the morning the doors will open, but how will consumers react?

Will there be people queuing, with their safety distance, waiting to enter?

Will many attend this traditional appointment or will they continue to buy mainly online?

A mystery that will be solved tomorrow, Thursday, but everything indicates that the typical image that we see every January 7 on the news "will be less this year", according to some

consumer organizations such as FUCI

.

Its president, Gustavo Samayoa, maintains that users "have become more forward-thinking" and that "they are afraid to spend because there is a lot of uncertainty with the pandemic."

"The Kings are going to be a little detail. Some have even postponed them for another year because people prefer to ignore these festivals and think that there will be better ones," says Samayoa, who regrets that commerce "has it very bad."

A business, as they have verified in this association, which is proposing "real discounts, which come from the stock that they have not sold", but which

this year has a consumer "more reluctant to spend

.

"

"It has nothing to do with last year," according to the associations, because, as Facua spokesman Rubén Sánchez says, the economic situation that many people are going through causes them to have less consumption capacity and not go as much to buy on sale.

But in addition, much fewer people go out on the streets and that directly causes less purchases of textile products, and before that, and if the economy does not allow it ... For that reason, and for the proper development of the sales, Facua asks businesses that do not do what, according to the complaint, has happened in recent years, that "do not falsify discounts."

The representatives of the

OCU

are also convinced that these discounts will be affected by the restrictions on trade that exist in different autonomous communities, but despite this and so that consumers can make the most of this period, he recalled

some advice to take into account

before going shopping:

  • - Make lists of what is needed.

  • - The products must have been part of the establishment's usual offer for at least one month, and their quality cannot be different from what they had before being reduced.

  • - Discounted items must keep their original price together with the discount, or clearly indicate the percentage of the discount.

  • -Some shops establish special conditions for purchases during the sales period (on returns or the acceptance of card payment) and they must be clearly indicated and visible.

  • - Keep the ticket or simplified invoice of purchases because if not, the right to change, return or claim is also lost.

  • - If you cannot reach an amicable agreement, you should request the complaint form and record the complaint.

  • - Choose establishments adhered to the consumer arbitration system, which offer more guarantees to the consumer.

  • - If the problem persists, complain to a higher authority.

    • These are tips that the associations remember and to which the Ministry of Consumption joins, which reminds that

    a defective product cannot appear as reduced

    in this period and that those that are put up for sale must be in perfect condition and comply with the established requirements in the contract, according to the Efe agency.

    A discounted product also affects Consumption, it

    does not imply less consumer protection

    and, therefore, the legal guarantee of the item purchased on sale must be identical to that of any new item purchased at another time.

    These terms are

    two years from the delivery

    of the product, when the product is new, and the agreed term in the case of second-hand products, although it will never be less than one year.

    The right to return the product is different in physical and online purchases.

    In the first case, the consumer has the right only in the event of lack of conformity with the contract (for example, when there is a manufacturing defect), and in the second he has it without indicating any reason and within a period of 14 calendar days from you received the item.

    According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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