(Prague, November 28, 2025) Discounts everywhere you go – today is Black Friday and 1 December is Cyber Monday, with a sea of promises of huge discounts. But not all of them are truly advantageous. The European Consumer Centre Czechia points out marketing tricks and dubious practices that can confuse or harm consumers.

“There are fake discounts, where sellers raise the price before the sale so that the discount appears more significant. This is despite the fact that throughout the EU, discounts must be calculated from the lowest price in the last 30 days. Such practices are monitored and sanctioned if detected by surveillance authorities in all EU countries,” says Ondřej Tichota, director of the European Consumer Centre Czechia, which helps resolve cross-border disputes between consumers and traders from other European Union countries.

Another trick is stating the manufacturer’s recommended price, which is sometimes higher than the usual retail price. At first glance, the savings seem dramatic, but the reality may differ.

Another problem is so-called drip pricing. The customer selects goods at an attractive price, but it is only at the last step before the payment that an extra surcharge appears in the order. Dynamic or personalized pricing, where the offer varies according to current demand or user profile, can also contribute to higher prices. It is advisable to compare several websites and search for goods in the anonymous mode of your internet browser.

The shopping season is also accompanied by aggressive marketing. Countdowns, notifications such as “only 2 left” or messages about allegedly high interest of other buyers are intended to put pressure on customers to make an immediate decision. These so-called dark patterns can even be illegal if they create a false impression of urgency or scarcity.

Every year, new fraudulent e-shops or sales profiles on social networks spring up during seasonal clearance sales. “When making your first purchase on an unknown website, it is worth spending tens of seconds doing a little research—is the seller identified, and are there payment options other than bank transfer? Was the e-shop established a few months ago and the reviews are not ideal? Such a basic check of a website and verification of the merchant’s identity can save a lot of trouble and money,” concludes Ondřej Tichota.

Further information on safe shopping is available at www.evropskyspotrebitel.gov.cz, including instructions on how to detect a fraudulent e-shop (www.evropskyspotrebitel.gov.cz/podvod). These are websites of the European Consumer Centre Czechia, co-financed by the European Commission and the Czech Trade Inspection Authority, within which the centre operates. The ECC is a part of a Union network of 29 centres that tackle consumer rights when shopping across national borders.