SAVING MONEY AT THE SALES

New Year, New Me, Same Overdraft: Surviving the Sales

Many shoppers will be hoping to grab a bargain in the post-Christmas sales as thousands of us will be trying to get the best value for money. Lots of others want to return unwanted gifts and get something in exchange or the money instead. So what is possible and what is not?

Q: Are my rights any different if I bought something in the sales?

Which? research reveals that 44% of people don't know you can return a faulty item bought in a sale for a full refund of what you paid.

Q: Can I return gifts I don't want and get the money back:

You have no legal return rights for goods bought in store, unless they are faulty, whether you have proof of purchase like a credit card statement, or even the receipt itself. However, there is still hope, at least for some shops. The shop may have its own returns policy, it may publish its return rights, in which case it is a contractual right, but your statutory rights, your 'in law' rights, means you can't take it back.

You have more rights if the product is bought online.

Your rights when returning goods relies on two pieces of legislation - the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. It can be good to quote this, if you are ever having trouble with a retailer who is not playing ball.

If you have bought something online, you can cancel the order within a certain period. The cancellation period starts from the moment you place your order and ends 14 days from the day you receive your goods.

You then have to return the items within 14 days from the date you notify the retailer that you'd like to return the goods.

There are some exceptions where the same rules might not apply, such as if the goods are perishable or were made-to-order.

Q: What are the best shops that offer a refund if I find something cheaper from somewhere else?

There is no automatic right of refund but....

Here are some of the retailers that will refund shoppers the difference if they find the same product cheaper elsewhere:

• AO.com - 7-day price match period after purchase. You'll need to tell them the product code and where you've spotted it cheaper.

• Blacks - 7-day price match period after purchase. The retailer will knock an extra 10% off the reduced price. You can apply for a refund via the website.

• Curry's PC World - 7-day price match guarantee after purchase, including priced reduced by voucher codes and offers. You will need to contact them online.

• eBay - The company says if you find an eBay Deal at a better price somewhere else? We’ll gladly price match the competition.

• Halfords - Offers a price match policy

• John Lewis - The shops says if you do find something you bought from us at a better price within 7 days, you can request a refund for the difference.

Q: I have a gift receipt for a present which I don't want – can I return it?

Return rights generally apply only to the person who actually paid for the item, and you'll usually need a receipt to prove it. However, if you have a gift receipt then having this should help you as the recipient can at least exchange the item.

Q: When is a sale genuine?

It used to be that a product had to be on sale for 28 days at the full price before a discounted sale price could be advertised. I can no longer find any reference to that requirement and the rules seem fuzzier.

Generally it seems that the product has to be on sale at the higher price for longer than the discounted price, for it to be seen as a genuine sale.

For instance, the Advertising Standards Association ruled against a claim by Currys that the advertised £200 discount on a laptop was misleading because the computer was on sale for longer than it was not on sale and ghardly anyone bought the product at the higher price. Consumers were being misled, it decided, into thinking they were getting a discount when the computer was not really being sold at the higher price for very long.

Q: What about shops that always seem to be offering a sale on products - what is going on there?

Some shops might offer what is effectively a rolling sale, where the price regularly alternates between a sale price and a higher 'regular price'.

If the shop is just rotating the price between the higher and lower rates, the ASA says the higher price must be charged for a significantly longer period for this to be considered the established usual selling price.

"Ads for a mattress sale which stated ““HALF PRICE”, alongside a box with numbers counting down from £399 to £199 were ruled against by the ASA. Over the previous year, the mattress was shown at the higher price for 49.85% of the year, and at the lower price for 50.14%, and the price had alternated between the two each month. Because the promotional periods were essentially equivalent in length to the periods when the full price was charged, the ASA did not consider that higher price was the established usual selling price (Dormeo UK Ltd, 13 October 2021). See also Carpetright Ltd, 25 January 2023."

Q: What else to do with unwanted gifts?

.Some charity shops accept donations by post. For example, the British Heart Foundation accepts smaller quality items such as branded clothing, jewellery and technology using its freepost donation service.

Alternatively, you could list the item on Freecycle, Freegle or Olio