Stay savvy this Black Friday with Royal London's top tips

Ahead of Black Friday, our consumer finance specialist Sarah Pennells comments:

“Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days of the year, so it’s best to keep savvy and manage your money well to avoid unnecessary spending. Many people can go overboard and end up buying things they won’t use purely because they are discounted.  Knowing exactly how much you have to spend will save you from buying unnecessary items or overspending. You aren’t saving money if you purchase something you don’t need!

Here are some top tips to be aware of:

1. Do your research before Black Friday so you know exactly what you’re looking for.  Do you want a new TV – if so, what features should it have? Some shops use Black Friday as a chance to offload old or unpopular stock.
   
   
2. Ignore the hype and make sure you’re really getting a bargain. There are shopping comparison sites that let you track an item’s price history across a range of retailers – and can show you if prices have risen just before Black Friday. You can also set up alerts so you’re told when the price falls. 
    
3. Don’t buy something because it’s cheap! Just because something has money off the price doesn’t mean it’s a good deal.  If you don’t need it, don’t really want it or you can’t afford it, it’s just a waste of money.
    
4. Know your rights. If you order something online, you have 14 days from the day after it arrives to cancel the sale and get a full refund and another 14 days to return it. That’s useful if you buy something and change your mind. Some items, such as anything custom made or perishable goods are excluded.
    
5. Take a step back from the ‘buy now’ frenzy! Shops use a lot of clever psychological tricks on Black Friday and one of them is to get us to buy in a hurry. It’s one of the oldest sales tricks in the book.
    
6. Watch out for fake websites. Just because it ends in .co.uk doesn’t mean it’s based in the UK and sites can have names that are very similar to the real thing. Pay by credit or debit card so you get some consumer protection if things go wrong.
    
7. If you tend to impulse buy, you could think about how long you would have to work to pay for the Black Friday bargain. It may be longer than you think!
    
8. Set a budget so you don’t spend more than you can afford.”