Black Friday kayak has advance price used last August – E24

In the past two years, the Norwegian Consumer Agency has sent letters to a double-digit number of stores criticizing their marketing during this fall’s big show period.

This week, E24 investigated how these online stores are marketing promotional materials during this year’s Black Week.

In the online store of Drammen-based Kajakk & Fritid, customers will encounter a number of Black Week deals this year, as well as last year.

Including Northzone green kayaks, now at 29% off. However, the advance rate of NOK 6,999 has not been used since mid-August, according to Bresgweden.

Up to the black week price of 4,990 kroner, the kayak cost 5,999 and 5,599 (see photo).

If you calculate a discount based on the previous price instead of the price last used in August, the current offer corresponds to a 10 percent discount, not 29 percent.

We state on the sign on our front page that we have calculated the discount based on the indicative rates we operate at most of the year, General Manager Michael Tronis Bernth explains.

Furthermore, you can read supplementary answers from Kajakk & Fritid and other companies mentioned in the article.

Prepare 1,500 kroner before black week

Among the companies that have received criticism from the Norwegian Consumer Agency, E24 found several examples of Black Week deals that were rolled out in pricing earlier this fall and then became a promotional item.

This applies to the Maxi-Cosi stroller, which is sold in the Babycare online store.

The stroller was among the baby store’s promotional items this week. It was issued for 5,490 kronor, 1,500 kronor less than the expanded price of 6,990 kroner.

Statistics from comparison service Prisguiden show that the stroller was just as cheap before. 5490 fixed price for the last 6 months.

The price was not raised until October 16, five weeks before Black Week, by NOK 1,500 to NOK 6,990.

Do you have a tip for Black Week or other campaign days? Contact an E24 journalist at [email protected] or 98826142.

Cheaper earlier this year

At Trademax, Swedish owned furniture store, they have a ‘Discounted Price for Everything’.

For example, you can buy a continental bed from Bedly for NOK 6,495, which is 35 percent cheaper than the “regular price” of NOK 9,995.

Aside from the three-week period in September/October, a bed can often cost 9,995 this fall, according to Brisguiden.

But the stats for the rest of the year show that the bed you can get now a “black bargain”, was usually the cheapest.

During the first half of the year, the cost of a bed ranged between 5,295 and 6,195, less than the current offer.

received criticism before

Babycare, Trademax, Kajakk & Fritid have all been in the spotlight by the consumer agency. After Black Week in 2019, they were among the companies that received references for misleading marketing.

When the authority sent 14 identical letters the following year, Babycare was again among the recipients.

The Norwegian Consumer Agency at the time was criticizing first of all the fact that companies market goods without real advance prices, or that there was not a sufficiently clear distinction between what was a campaign and what was the normal price.

The authority will not comment on the specific examples that E24 describes now.

Department Director Benti Overley in the Supervisory Department wrote in an email that she will also monitor this year whether the savings of traders at marketed prices are real.

Unfortunately, we see that the offers are not always as favorable as they seem.

Lowest price as advance price

There are strict rules of sales marketing.

Overley explains that in order for marketing not to be illegal, prices must be reduced and true pre-pricing must be established, as a general rule.

It states that there are two requirements provided that the pre-pricing is real.

– First, the advance marketed price must, as a rule, be the lowest price used by the bidder in the period before the commencement of the sale. The second condition is that the item must have been sold in sufficient quantity at that price.

If not, the marketing would be easily misleading and illegal.

A sufficient number depends on specific assessments, Overley says. In order to establish a true advance price, as a rule, sales of expensive, rarely sold goods will be required compared to mass-produced goods with a high frequency.

I think they compare correctly

They always rely on the regular/indicative price, says Michael Trønnes Bernth, General Manager of Kayak & Leisure.

– By that I mean the price we’ve had for most of the season, especially the high season. Then our prices stabilized. As you’ve noticed for yourself, a kayak costs 6,999 kroner from December 1, 2020 and all the way until August 15, when we started our “Summer Sale”.

Trønnes Bernth says he sees nothing wrong with operating at an advance price that has not been used for three months, although the consumer agency generally believes stores should compare to the lowest advance price before the promotion period.

“We mention on the sign on our front page that we calculated the discount based on the indicative rates we operate at most of the year,” he says.

– I think we are not operating in any way at wrong prices. We do not over-adjust the price up front, which we think is to deceive people, but give our customers better deals.

He thinks the legislation has weaknesses

Harald Eikrem Andersen, General Manager at Babycare says the Maxi-Cosi stroller is a product they’ve had the lowest price of all year.

– We see from your inquiry that the product has a specified discount rate in relation to the price recommended in the product description on our website. This is a human error and we will correct it immediately.

After the change, the stroller comes out without an advance price, but with a “preferred price” of 5,490. Eikrem Andersen believes that a weakness of the legislation is that stores at the lowest market price are limited to gadgets during Black Week.

– Today, a store can send a percentage discount if you have a high price of the product up front, while another player who has had a low price all year long for an exact identical product, is not allowed to mention the real discount on what the product is sold for in the market, even if it is the cheapest .

We believe this is misleading to consumers, a weakness in the legislation that makes it difficult for consumers to discover a really good price.

cost increase

Purchasing manager Jens Ewert at Trademax explains that the bed price hike this fall, before campaign periods, is a result of higher costs.

– Our suppliers are now charging higher prices, which in turn are linked to global raw material prices and freight rates. This means that we even had to overprice the customers.

After the summer, Trademax’s price for the bed in question has doubled, before now offering at 35% off.

The price increase from our supplier means that the normal price is no longer what it was before in 2021, says Ewert.