Paris (AFP)
Misleading nature of certain discounts displayed, products of dubious quality, even counterfeit: warnings are multiplying on the eve of the promotions of "Black Friday".
In fact, "5 to 10% of the products are actually 5 to 10% cheaper for the home appliance and high-tech sectors", explains to AFP Grégory Caret, director of the Observatory of the consumption of the UFC-Que Choisir, who conducted a study on the prices practiced in 2018 before and during the "Black Friday", American tradition that takes each year more root in France.
The consumer association has observed the prices of tens of thousands of products on the sites of major retailers "28 days before Black Friday and D-day," says Caret. "What we observe is that for most products the price before, during and after is the same".
If the real price does not change, "it is the reference price that undergoes inflation", analyzes Mr. Caret. This is the price "before reduction, the one from which are deducted the -50%, -70% that the consumer can see on the label," he adds.
- reference price "whimsical" -
In France, "there is almost nothing that defines the reference price," confirms Philippe Moati, economist and co-founder of Obsoco. "This legal vacuum, combined with the lack of resources of the DGCCRF (repression of fraud, Editor's note) to control all that, makes that very often the barred price is a fancy price," he continues.
Which ?, the UK equivalent of UFC-Que Choisir, came to a similar conclusion by observing prices in the UK. The organization says that 61% of the 83 products studied were "cheaper or at the same price before Black Friday".
"Of course, sustainably low prices are not a bad thing," notes Which? on its site, "but that means you should feel less under pressure to buy during the Black Friday period".
According to Mr Moati, this "pressure" would actually push consumers to "buy a product only because it is on sale even if it does not suit us". According to the expert, this behavior "leads to a consumption that is not reasoned, so certainly to overconsumption, and sometimes a consumerism, even a form of disappointment."
To avoid this kind of error, Mr. Caret advises the consumer to "set up a small alarm in his head that comes on when you see -50%" because "-50%, -70%, even in sales period, it does not correspond to an economic reality ".
- "False products" -
Beyond price issues, there are those of the quality and even the conformity of the products. The Union of Manufacturers (Unifab) has warned consumers against the risk of deception on online sales during Black Friday.
According to the organization that brings together the companies involved in the fight against counterfeiting, "fake products insidiously invade the web and baskets of e-consumers".
While the period "has the highest peak consumption of the year", the association recalls a number of reflexes during online shopping: make sure to be on an official website, pay attention to mistakes spelling that could betray a dubious site, be wary of too tempting offers or prices sold and look at the conditions of return, which are mandatory in France.
The warnings on prices and products add to the reaction "anti-Black Friday" which also rises in France.
Minister of Transition Ecologique Élisabeth Borne criticized Monday "the frenzy of consumption" related to Black Friday. The next day, the deputies even gave the green light in committee to a prohibition of promotional campaigns around this day.
On the side of civil society, associations, brands and traders take initiatives to "fight against hyper-consumption and responsible consumption and production", according to the formula of Jean-Paul Raillard, President Envie and "Green Friday", a movement of companies and associations that undertake not to promote during the famous "Black Friday".
© 2019 AFP