The Black Friday shopping day is plagued by fake sale prices. Now the Social Democrats want to raise the time limit that a price must have been fixed before a sale, from 30 to 90 days. But Swedish trade says that would disadvantage Swedish stores in international competition.
– That would be deeply unfortunate, says Henrik Ekelund, head of unit at Swedish Trade.
Black Friday falls on Friday 24 November. Last year it was reported that several stores surreptitiously increased their goods before the sale in order to then appear that the prices were reduced more than was actually the case.
Last year, new legislation came into force to combat fraudulent sales – now the lowest price of the last 30 days must be displayed next to the sale price. But the Social Democrats think that it has only led to many traders moving price increases to 30 days before Black Friday – and that the scam sales will therefore only continue.
Now they want to see tougher action from the Swedish Consumer Agency – but if it doesn’t work, they demand new legislation.
– Then you have to consider whether the sanctions are sufficient to deter those who do not behave in a good way or whether instead of 30 days you should have 60 or 90 days, says Jennie Nilsson (S), who is a member of Civil Committee.
However, Henrik Ekelund, unit manager at Swedish Trade, does not think so. According to him, this would risk putting Swedish stores at a disadvantage in international competition.
– It would be deeply unfortunate considering that the 30 days originate from an EU directive and with you moving the border of an EU directive then it is clear that you are affecting Swedish competitiveness and with that you risk causing consumption, jobs and entrepreneurship is moved outside Sweden’s borders, he says.
Swedish trade admits that it took some time for their members to learn the new rules. But a survey by pricerunner showed that 30 percent of sales on Singles day in mid-November were still fake.