POLL | Have you found an ‘honest’ Black Friday deal?

As shoppers across the country brave the rush to participate in Black Friday, many have been disillusioned about “deals” they claim are not specials at all.

Arguably the year’s biggest shopping day, Black Friday is in progress and thousands of eager shoppers are expected to head to stores across the country or move online to nab a deal.

Major retailers have announced their specials, with TimesLIVE readers on the lookout for electronics and deals on food.

However, “Black Friday” and the names of some popular retailers trended on social media on Friday morning as users “unmasked the con” behind some specials.

They claimed stores had inflated prices weeks or even hours before Friday, only to drop them at midnight. A few claimed Black Friday prices were higher than a few weeks ago.

They called for retailers to be “honest”.

Those who are not sure if they are getting a “once in a lifetime” deal can turn to online price trackers such as software developer Ashton Hudson’s Serval, which looks at a product’s listing price on Takealot over several months.

Last year South Africans spent billions on purchases during Black Friday, with FNB recording a 19% year-on-year increase and transactions worth more than R2bn processed on its Speedpoints.

FNB card holders made purchases in excess of R2.5bn on Black Friday, an increase of 15% compared to 2020.

Standard Bank said its total card transactions for Black Friday 2021 increased by 17% compared with the previous year, with the average value of transactions up by 13%.

TimesLIVE

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