The offers are obvious at times like Black Friday, which this year will be on November 25, and before the Christmas festivities with billboards and even moving letters announcing gifts, 2 for 1 or bring one item and pay for the second at half price. price and financing facilities with months of grace are highlighted.
But behind the practice of marketing Constantly creating needs, sometimes fictitious, certain advertising messages leave consumers doubting about their suitability. Hence, experts point out that purchases must be part of a planned process to acquire what is actually needed.
How to identify that an offer really is? Stores have a specific way of selling on Black Friday, which is to report the spot price, but they also offer installment financing options with months of grace. Then, If you do not have cash, the recommendation is to pay the cash price of the item with your credit cardsays Guillermo Granja, a personal finance professional and professor at the Ecotec University of Guayaquil.
Do you believe in the Black Friday offers? If your answer is negative, you are part of the 56% of people in Ecuador who doubt the discounts for this date (November 25)
“It is better to do it this way and then do the deferred internally with the credit card. Over there Yes, you will actually benefit from the offer, because normally when the cash payment is no longer paid, interest is recharged and they tell consumers not to worry, that there will be small installments and that they will start paying three months later, that is, the first installment will only be paid next February, but they do not realize that it is already a different price, since they include financing, which will be greater the longer the term that is finally decided, three, six, nine or a full year.
The trick of these offer announcements is in phrases like “and up to one year” followed by reporting the cash price, which may be less than what usually happens.
“You have to understand the commercial dynamics, since first there is the down payment with Black Friday, but then come the December promotions for Christmas, which also include the offer of a deferred period with a three-month grace period, then later in 2023 there is a strong financial burden for the months of February (due to the first debt) and in March the two installments are combined and there the strangulation occurs ”.
Payment in cash will always have the advantage of freeing the buyer from interest.
The grace months that are offered actually hide interest, so the final price of the product, deferred over time, will be higher than the one announced in the offer, the cash one.
Another tactic is know the cut-off date of the card, indicates Farm. If it is October 31, then the purchase must be made from November 1. There is an extension that goes from one month to 45 days to pay the first installment, because after the deadline you have fifteen more days to pay.
“It can be a grace period of a month and a half for knowing this cut-off date and knowing how to use it well, there are automatically 45 days of grace paying the offer price, in cash when using the credit card.”
By following this form of payment, the deferral with the credit card must be three, six or nine months maximum in a good that costs up to a thousand dollars. “Twelve months term sounds good but the interest rate will be much higher, the final price of the product will be higher,” says Granja.
There are places that present their offers throughout the month with differences. The first week of November they offer a discount on the entire white line, the second on the brown line and the third on technological products. In that case, Granja says, you have to buy according to the promotion that is in force.
The payment method of the offer price with the credit card requires having it up to date and with its released balance in order to benefit from these promotions.
Franklin Velasco, professor of marketing at the San Francisco de Quito University (USFQ), affirms that Ecuadorian consumer culture has not advanced towards improving personal finances. “The persuasion system that marketing uses is precisely financing, so they do not place the final price of the product including interest. Or they tell us that the payment is in ‘quotitas’. There are promotions for a motorcycle that says you can pay with $2.50 a day.”
Consumer psychology works with fewer numbers as it generates more attention. The problem, says the specialist, is that the temporality focus is lost since the calculation of how much that $2.5 means in the week, the month and worse throughout the year is never made.
“The brain works according to the most instinctive and primitive part, which in this case is that apparently smaller quota, which is enough for me at the time of purchase,” says Velasco.
The specialist recommends applications available for free that calculate what will end up paying for that product, depending on the term that is deferred. “In these, even the monthly salary is entered with which it calculates the cost of food and education, which are generally the strongest items to be covered in the country. From that, he recommends whether it is feasible to get into debt or not ”.
One of the customs to cultivate is to document the real evolution of the prices of the products in order to make comparisons. “Visit various sites to compare these offers” is another of the tips.
The Consumption must be more rational and search more commercial premises in order to see which is the best purchase optionsummarizes Velasco
The concept of a marketing promotion is that it is a random exercise so the consumer will not know when it will be done. In the case of Black Friday, it is different because there we all know that there will be offers.
Velasco indicates that one of the rights of the consumer is to be informed. “There is no store that differs in the sense of comparing what is done. If you pay the thousand dollars today, you take the television, but if you take it out in two-year installments, you end up paying, to say the least, 1,500 dollars. This information is not given to the consumer because what is sought is that the purchase is made and the inventory begins to rotate”.
To the buy certain goodsespecially the most expensive ones such as buying a house or a car, the consumer asks for the loan amortization table. There is evidence of what ends up paying in interest and capital. “There is no need to be ashamed to ask for it for each of the purchases that are made in installments. The concept of interest in our mind is not innate due to this lack of culture in personal finance. there consumers end up paying much more than they should”, adds the specialist.
Another element that characterizes the national offers is that after informing the promotional price, paying in cash, the phrase: ‘conditions apply’ is indicated. Then it is deferred without interest with a two-month grace period but at least 50% (down payment) of the advertised price is paid.
Larry Yumibanda, economic analyst and president of the Círculo de Economía de Guayaquil, indicates that a prior analysis should be carried out on the needs and real possibilities of financing before going shopping and letting yourself be carried away by the marketing with eye-catching signs and fractional numbers.
“It is important to evaluate finances and have a clear objective about what you are looking to buy and for what. When it comes to personal finances, the future is as important as the present, this applies when making a personal or family budget, saving, investing, spending and, of course, also when identifying an offer”.
Consumers must create strategies that work and allow reasoning before buying, he adds.
The specialist gives three recommendations that can help in identifying an effective offer. The first is verification to establish its veracity. “It is common to find signs that indicate 70%, 50%, 20% discount. But the sign is not a guarantee, you need to verify if the previous price was lower and corroborate the offer, this verification can be as simple as knowing the price beforehand or doing a simple online inquiry in other stores to compare prices.” points.
The second piece of advice is not to give up quality for price. “A purchase on sale is still a commercial transaction, the quality of the products, such as appliances or clothing, should not be sacrificed for the price. The client can demand that they deliver an item from the warehouse”.
And the third recommendation is to be faithful to the goods and services that are really needed. A practical habit that consumers can practice is to make a list of items that are actually needed and stick to it, so you don’t come back with items that will never be used.
“You have to carry out an expedited analysis to buy from a house to a shirt and decisions should not be automatic and impulsive, it is important to consider that payment offers, such as three months without interest or three months of grace do not mean that it is free or it is cheaper, it means that you have to think about the present and the future at the same time”.
Yumibanda indicates that the best thing will always be not to get into debt, save and make a budget for seasonal purchases such as Black Friday or the Christmas season. “If this is not possible, review what is the credit card fee that you can pay and make a self-commitment to assume the debt responsibly. Shopping should bring you well-being, not worries”.
Origin of Black Friday
This year Black Friday falls on November 25. It is commemorated just one day after Thanksgiving, which is every fourth Thursday in November. This tradition emerged during the 1960s in Philadelphia, in the United States. The expression Black Friday began to be used in the sense that we know today in 1961 when a public bulletin warned of the chaos that was taking place in the streets of the public thoroughfare due to the sales the day after Thanksgiving. Then the term spread throughout the United States from 1975.
How does it work?
Discounts in Ecuador for Black Friday work differently from what happens in the United States, where this day originated. In that country, the aim is to get rid of all the inventory of merchandise for the year, which causes the promotions to be much larger than those offered in the national case, indicates Granja.
“There are bargain prices there, in Ecuador what happens is that they do have sales, but the strategy is to get rid of all inventory on Black Friday but also at Christmas.” Even in the country there black weekend Y Black Month.
the days of offer
In Ecuador, Black Friday has become Black Weekend, that is, a whole weekend of offers and there are even stores that are already betting on a Black Month, presenting discount catalogs throughout November. This is intended to give consumers more time to browse and shop more comfortably, although as a strategy they warn that some products may run out.
track offers
Since November begins, it is convenient to review the prices of the items that you aspire to acquire. You can do it online or physically in stores. Department stores in Ecuador display different prices and products on their platforms, so it is an option that you should not rule out to compare costs before deciding.
Credit card
Four out of ten Ecuadorians plan to do their Black Friday shopping using credit. Although for most the priority will be cash payment, they will use a mixed system if they are presented with an attractive offer. The experts remember that the use of the credit card has interests that must be considered and that the revolving credit is not recommended. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
