OXFORDSHIRE County Council’s Trading Standards team is warning residents to think before they rush to buy that ?never to be repeated? bargain in the post- Christmas Sales.
The message is:”don?t be taken in by all the claims of ?50% off?; ignore the hype and look at the price before parting with hard-earned money.
While there will be genuine bargains to be had in the sales, shoppers should be very sceptical about price comparisons. Shops can be ingenious in complying with the letter of the law while still appearing to offer maximum savings.
What tricks can be employed?
These are some of the tricks the shops can use to make that bargain look irresistible:
It always pays to ask what was the original selling price. Shops may have kept the item on sale at the higher price at the back of their shop for a month. They can then claim a reduction against this price for the next six months. Would anyone have been silly enough to have bought it at the higher price?
The item may have been on sale at the higher price at just one or two branches – a practice that has been commonly used by a number of large multiples.
Offers of two for the price of one will usually be based on an increased price for the single item. After about a month of this offer the shop will then claim a reduction on its original inflated price. For example shampoo which sells for around
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