The Friday after Thanksgiving Day, known as Black Friday, is widely popular in the United Stated and in the past few years, it has started to be emulated in other countries. The day is seen as the beggining of the Christmas shopping season, and retailers all accross the country were expecting a reaction closest to the one consumers in America ussually show: long queues, people waiting from midnight to get the best bargains and everyone mad over deals.
The shopping extravaganza was milder than last year’s, with some shops in City Centre opening earlier only to find themselves awaiting the afternoon anyway. However, it is expected that Irish shoppers will spend approximately €128M before the week ends.
Some of the best deals are offered by retailers such as Smyths Toys Superstores, Currys PC World, Marks and Spencers, Debenhams, Lidl, Argos and Amazon. However, consumer watchdogs warn shoppers to keep a close eye in the deals, as some retailers have tried to take advantage of the event to exaggerate the actual discount offered. They do this by using a historic price instead of the current one without the discount; for example, a camara that costs €100 is offered at €50 asif it had a discount of 50%, but in reality, it has been sold at €75 for three months. This means that the discount is actually less than advertised.
So, if you are thinking about doing some shopping during the weekend, keep your eyes open for a good bargain, but also do your research, especially if you’ll be buying something relatively expensive or hard to return.