What experts advise to take advantage of discounts and avoid wasting money
The end of the Christmas holidays puts an end to buying gifts and celebrating with friends and family, but this coming Wednesday a new challenge for consumers’ pockets: the popular and always-awaited January sales, which are brought forward a few hours in the format on-line.
Traditionally, it is an unavoidable event for citizens who have an item or product between their eyebrows and who are not willing to miss the opportunity to take advantage of the great discounts. whatIn many cases they can exceed 50% of the original price of the article.
“The sales campaign, in addition, can be the occasion to equip yourself, buying clothes, footwear, a type of goods that are difficult for many to afford,” advises the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU)which reminds: “It is a good opportunity to buy at a better price, but remember: they can only cut prices, not your rights.”
In this sense, a survey published by the Spanish Consumer Association (Asescon), which estimates the average spending of each Spaniard on these sales at almost 200 euros, has revealed that up to 67% of Spaniards they don’t know many of the rights that they have as consumers in this season of discounts.
From Asescon they advise consumers in this way “make conscious and responsible consumption, which avoids spending more than what is allowed by the family economyespecially in times of economic crisis and high inflation as we are experiencing.”
20 minutes has compiled the simple advice offered by different consumer groups, such as the OCU or Asescon, to face this traditional period of discounts with all the guarantees and while avoiding unnecessary waste.
-List. Sales are a good opportunity to buy something you need at a good discount. Therefore, it is important before leaving home to think about what you need and make a list. This way, you avoid spending more than necessary and impulsive purchases.
-Check prices. It is essential that the original price appears next to the reduced price on the product we are going to buy. If it is an item that has been in the store for a long time and has had several prices, the lowest price will be the reference.
-Check that the product. Stores must offer new products in perfect condition, since sales are not synonymous with sales, promotions or clearance sales. Just because the price is lower than the original does not mean that the items may have any defects.
-Watch out for online discounts on electronics and appliances. Many shops on-line offer discounts for this type of products that are not such, since the reference price was not the lowest in the preceding 30 days. To avoid this fraud, you can do real price tracking in any price comparator or advisor.
-Ask the conditions for the return. Although almost all stores accept returns without problems, regulations indicate that physical stores are not required to accept a return unless there is a defect. It is important to find out before purchasing the conditions in case of return, such as the deadline or the method of refund, since it could not be in money, but in a gift card or redeemable voucher. In online purchases, meanwhile, there is a legal withdrawal period of 14 days during which it is not necessary to justify the reason for the return.
-Keep the purchase receipt. Having proof of purchase is key to being able to claim later in case our product is defective or we want to change it. Without this proof, the seller will not have the obligation to address our claim.
– Prioritize businesses that adhere to consumer arbitration. Consumer organizations remember that it is always a guarantee to buy in stores that are members of the Consumer Arbitration System. This system allows consumers to quickly, efficiently and economically resolve conflicts and claims that arise in consumer relationships.
-Avoid going out of stores for pure leisure. On many occasions we simply go out for a walk and look at stores and end up buying items that we had not planned on.
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