Only one in seven Black Friday deals are real

JUST one in seven Black Friday deals offer a genuine discount, with the majority of products sold for the same price or less in the six months prior, according to Which?

Analysing the prices of goods at major retailers in the six months either side of Black Friday last year, the consumer watchdog found 86 per cent of products on offer were cheaper or the same price in the six months before the discount retail event.

Which? also found 98 per cent of products were cheaper or the same price at other times of the year.

In one example, the researchers found a Zanussi chimney cooker hood on sale at John Lewis for £239, offering a £30 discount.

However, the same product had been on sale for £160 in August and was only increased to £269 in October. Ahead of this year’s Black Friday event on November 25, Which? used its research to rank 214 Black Friday deals from seven major retailers last year: Amazon, AO, Argos, Currys, John Lewis, Richer Sounds and Very.

The watchdog named Amazon and Very as the “worst retailers overall for dubious discounts”, with more than 70 per cent of their products included in the analysis appearing cheaper at other times of the year.