Friday marks the start of the Belgian winter sales. How can you best avoid scams, and what are your rights as a consumer?
Shops in Belgium are subject to strict sales rules. There are two official seasons: winter (January) and summer (July). The winter edition lasts the whole month and ends on 31 January. However, avid shoppers will likely have spotted some sales long before. The law does allow them to hold clearance sales or other commercial events during the waiting period.
During these events, price reductions are allowed, such as discounts for buying two or more products. But it is forbidden to call them "sales". International commercial websites are not subject to Belgian law and can offer discounts at different times.
Fashion retailers have had a better winter season than last year and are feeling positive, the sector organisation Mode Unie said. Retailers expect to sell as much or more than in the previous winter sales. "They feel that consumers are in the mood to solo shop." Independent fashion retailers will on average start off with a 30% sale discount.
What are the rules?
It is up to the seller to decide which items are on sale. "Stores must calculate their discounts fairly," consumer protection organisation Test Achats' spokesperson Laura Clays told The Brussels Times.
"By law, they must include the 'reference price', or the lowest price the store has applied in the past 30 days." This gives customers an idea of the discount they are getting.
However, some stores try to avoid these rules by not listing the reference price to seemingly give a higher discount. "Often there's a price next to it with a statement like 'list price' or 'most shown price'. If you see this, the actual discount is definitely lower than what the store makes it seem," Clays said. These misleading price reductions are illegal.
Credit: Belga / Thierry Roge
People are entitled to legal warranty, including for discounted products. If something is broken, buyers can take it back to the seller within two years and invoke the legal warranty. "This not only applies to electronic products but also if the zip breaks on a pair of trousers, for example."
However, buying something and then changing your mind is another story. "The store is not obliged to take the product back. If they do, it is a gesture to customers." A refund can also be legally refused. Online, different rules apply: here, customers get at least 14 days to return the product, but may be charged shipping costs.
Avoiding scams and bad deals
If ordering online, customers are advised to avoid ordering from an unknown webshop. "Scammers can set up a fake webshop, collect the money and then disappear into thin air," Clays said.
To avoid this, consumers should look for the store's contact information: its website should state a physical address and a company number. "You can also always look up the name of the website to read reviews. If there aren't any or they are exclusively negative, it's not a good sign."
Finally, Clays stressed that, even if a store provides a correctly calculated discount, not every promotion is a good one. "Maybe another store will have a bigger discount, or maybe the product is even cheaper at another time of year," she said.
