As many French people prepare to buy their Christmas gifts, the UFC Que Choisir association points out certain merchants likely to attack your budget.
The Christmas period is a boon for many businesses. For several weeks, they can multiply promotions and special offers to offer their customers all kinds of products likely to be found under their trees. Large and small brands know that consumers will spend much more than usual during this period in order to spoil their loved ones, even if it means dipping into their savings.
But the end-of-year holidays can also rhyme with multiple tricks designed to make you spend more. More than ever, it is important to remain vigilant about orders placed during this period and UFC-Que-Choisir will not tell you otherwise.
The site recently warned of several bad habits and pitfalls to avoid when shopping for the Christmas holidays. Among the recommendations, we find in particular some fairly standard advice, such as preparing purchases ahead of the holidays and not at the last minute. Please also inform yourself about the products ordered to avoid unpleasant surprises or disappointments at the foot of the tree, particularly in terms of possible delivery costs depending on your location.
But above all, UFC-Que-Choisir warns against merchant sites and traders based abroad. The latter may present two more or less significant risks. The first being a delay in the delivery of your Christmas purchase, and therefore, the possibility that it will reach you after the holidays. More importantly: depending on the location of the seller, you may have additional VAT as well as customs fees to pay when ordering or delivering your purchase.
Customs fees can be very surprising once announced since they are fees collected by the carrier of your package and these can quickly turn out to be quite high. It is therefore strongly recommended that you find out about the location of the seller and choose one that has offices or warehouses in France or the European Union in order to avoid unpleasant surprises.