(The online newspaper): – A rule of thumb is that the product must have been sold at the regular price for six weeks before it goes on sale, says Thomas Iversen, consumer lawyer and senior adviser in the Consumer Council, to Nettavisen.
Earlier in November, Are Vittersø, head of Prisjakt.no, warned against “fake” offers during Black Week and Black Friday.
11 per cent of the products on sale during Black Week last year had risen in price between 1 October and 22 November. In other words, the price was increased before some of the year’s biggest sales days.
Almost 30 percent more expensive
Also this year, it is clear that some items have become more expensive ahead of Black Week. AEG SteamBake oven BPB352021M is an example of this.
In the period 16 October to 6 November, the item cost 4999 kroner at Power, according to Prisguiden.no. Also at Elkjøp, the item cost NOK 4999 in the same period, and the last registered dates with this price were 25 and 27 October according to Prisjakt.no.
Then the chains increased the price to 7990 kroner.
Just weeks later, both Elkjøp and Power Black Week have sales on the oven, with a 25 and 20 percent discount, respectively. At Elkjøp, you must buy two or more integrated white goods to get the discount.
This means that the oven now costs 28 per cent more at Power than just under three weeks ago, and 20 per cent more at Elkjøp than one month ago. Even on sale.
– We do not like it when we hear about examples like this. It is not allowed to adjust the price up just before Black Friday, and then put it down again to make super sales, says Iversen in the Consumer Council.
– The item must be sold over a longer period of time before the sale. The Norwegian Consumer Agency supervises this type of price marketing, he adds.
Warns consumers
Iversen says they are happy that the Norwegian Consumer Agency is following suit, since it is they who have the authority to crack down on such cases.
He warns consumers against similar price traps, as Nettavisen refers to above, when they come across what may appear to be good offers.
– We ourselves ask consumers to be vigilant in the face of Black Friday offers. If you need something special, it may make sense to check on Black Friday, but we encourage no one to shop blindly, says Iversen.
– You also do not save any money on buying something just because it is on sale. Think about whether you need the product, and check online if it is actually a good offer, he encourages.
– We missed this one
Both Elkjøp and Power have the item in stock on Thursday afternoon, both online and in store. However, Elkjøp only has the item in stock in one physical store.
The online newspaper has been in contact with both Power and Elkjøp to get an explanation of why they turned up the prices just before Black Week, and then to give a worse price offer now than a few weeks ago.
We have also confronted them with the Consumer Council’s statement that the product must be sold at the regular price for six weeks before it can go on sale.
Power reduced the price to 4799 kroner after Nettavisen contacted them on Thursday afternoon.
– In this specific percentage campaign, we have 231 different products, and it seems that we have missed out on this particular product. We have now changed this, writes Siri Røhr-Staff, PR and communications manager at Power, in an e-mail to Nettavisen.
She says that they spend a lot of time and resources on planning good campaigns for their customers and have very strict routines for when they communicate savings prices or percentage prices.
– To be open and honest about this, this information is always included on the back of our customer newspaper on the online campaign newspaper. Since our pricing is transparent, and customers can always check previous prices, says Røhr-Staff.
– Prices go up and down
At the time of writing, Elkjøp has not reduced the price of the item. Madeleine Schøyen Bergly, communications manager at Elkjøp Norge, says that they have strict internal guidelines on how to price products towards campaign periods such as Black Week and the rest of the year.
– We follow the market, and strive to be the best in price within our industry, she writes in an e-mail to Nettavisen.
She says that the oven from AEG that Nettavisen points out in this case, had a price adjustment to match one of their competitors.
– It was not marketed as an offer, but was adjusted down in price to follow the market. Prices go up and down throughout the year as these are dynamic, she explains.
Bergly points out that the product in question has a 25 percent discount during Black Week when buying two or more integrated white goods.
– This applies to the entire integrated product group. It is a very good campaign, even though the oven has been cheaper for a short period in October – when the price was matched against a competitor, Bergly explains.
– We always recommend our customers to check independent price comparison services on products with us, as we want to be completely transparent on our price history, she says.
– There are strict rules
Christoffer Bjørnum, section manager in the supervisory department of the Norwegian Consumer Agency, writes in an email to Nettavisen that they can not process specific examples in the media, but states that they can make some general remarks.
– The issue of marketed price savings is actually real, we are well aware of – and we unfortunately see that the offers are not always as favorable as it seems. There are strict rules for sales marketing. The prices must be reduced and real pre-prices must, as a general rule, be stated so that the marketing is not illegal, he writes.
Bjørnum also adds that it is of course the case that the trader is free to change his prices during the year.
But if businesses work with marketing of price savings compared to their own pre-price, one must still make sure that these pre-prices are real, the section manager reminds.
– In the condition that a pre-price must be real, there are certain requirements. Firstly, the pre-price that is marketed must, as a general rule, be the lowest price that the bidder has used in the period before the sale starts. It depends on a specific assessment of how long the pre-price must be kept for it to be considered real, but the crucial thing is that a sufficient number of products have been sold at the relevant pre-price, he continues.
If the pre-price is not real, the marketing will easily be misleading and illegal, according to Bjørnum. He also pulls one up guidance they have created for price marketing, which «all business people who use sales marketing should familiarize themselves with».
– There they find, among other things, information about which rules apply and how one as a business person can stay within the law – also on Black Friday. The Authority therefore expects businesses to comply with the regulations. Nevertheless, we see that we occasionally have to enter into a dialogue with businesses for further guidance, but it is also the case that businesses that do not follow the regulations can be faced with financial sanctions, Bjørnum says.
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