Appliances, clothing, interior decoration… Offers are piling up on the shelves or on the Internet and can be very tempting. At this time of year, the sales are eagerly awaited by many French people, strongly impacted by the general rise in prices. But are these reductions really always interesting? Here are some tips to avoid being cheated!
- Watch out for overly attractive discounts
First, watch out for overly large discounts. Even though the trader has the right to sell at a loss during the sales, it is also in his interest to sell it at the highest possible price. So if you see items on sale at -70%, beware: it may be a scam, a phishing attempt or a way to get you to subscribe to an offer.
- Check the reference price on the labels
On the labels, look at the “crossed out” price, or the price before reductions. In some cases, the repression of fraud realized that the prices crossed out were not those practiced in reality. Legally, brands must use as reference price the lowest price practiced in the last 30 days. But in practice, many brands do not hesitate to display deceptive starting prices to give customers the illusion of benefiting from a discounted price. According to the Consumer Code, this would be a deceptive and illegal commercial practice.
In life, you are never better served than by yourself. To avoid being fooled, we advise you to calculate the discounts yourself: in some cases, you can be a winner! Effectively, the repression of fraud was put to the test in 2016: in 8% of cases, reductions include calculation errors, making the consumer pay more.
- Compare prices and items
In this period of sales, it is essential to compare prices. This technique will prevent you from falling into the trap of inflated prices and will also allow you to find the item of your dreams cheaper from a competitor.
To compare your items, the Idealo.fr website can help you.
- Research the company
To do this, nothing could be simpler: type the name of the company directly into a search engine. As a priority, check the date of creation of the company, the name of the director(s), the amount of share capital, the RCS number (Register of Commerce and Companies) and the registration of the company on the Infogreffe.fr website. or on Company.com.
- Check if the merchant site is reliable and secure
After doing some research on the company, turn your attention to its merchant site: does it seem reliable to you? Does the site contain spelling or grammatical errors? Is there customer and after-sales service? Are the legal notices correctly filled in? Is the site URL in https? So many questions that could put you on the trail of a scam!
- Beware of social media ads
In recent years, many brands have used social networks to sell their products. But the problem is that there are many scams: dropshipping, counterfeit products, article very different from the one advertised, package never received, monthly billing after a free trial to which the consumer has never registered, etc.
To protect yourself, search for articles directly on the Internet, without going through the social media box.
- Beware of false fees on the Internet!
Be vigilant on the Internet! Many shipping costs, processing fees or customs fees can be added to your order and inflate prices!
- Beware of emails and fake sites
Do not click directly on links or documents offering offers, sales and bargains of all kinds: they may contain viruses or redirect you to fake sites designed to look like legitimate sites. On these fake sites, you will be led to download malware, to make purchases without issue or to share your confidential or banking data.
- Track your package from the merchant site
After your purchases, there are many attempts at hacking or parcel delivery scams! So don’t click on any link you have any doubt about. Consult the tracking of your package directly on the site or on the application.
Bonus: What to do if you see fraud?
If you encounter this scenario, you can report the company on the Signal Conso platform
Did you know ? In the event of an inspection by the DGCCRF, the brand risks a fine of up to 300,000 euros or 10% of turnover.
LR