Do not end your Christmas shopping with a sour taste

18 November 2022, Budapest - Before the end of year sales season, the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) publishes mini-videos on its social media site to help consumers and undertakings make informed decisions and develop lawful promotions. The GVH encourages all its followers to share the informative videos to assist them.

Black Friday is the last Friday in November, the day after the North American Thanksgiving Day, which traditionally marks the start of the Christmas shopping season. The name has also been established in Hungary, and during the end of year-period, many retailers sometimes offer special discounts to customers even before that date. Naturally, promotions are only favourable for consumers if they are conducted fairly, and shoppers choose from the offers wisely.

Similarly, to previous years, the Hungarian Competition Authority helps Hungarian consumers with an information campaign to avoid disappointment during seasonal promotions and make informed, and, preferably environmentally sustainable, choices. The GVH's mini-videos help consumers with the most important questions during the sales period, such as things to check before purchasing and the bodies to contact if they have a complaint.

This year's Black Friday marks a change for all traders, as new and stricter provisions of the legislation on unfair commercial practices have entered into force since last year’s season. Prior to the entry into force of the legislative package, the GVH supported undertakings in their preparations in a number of ways. In relation to one of the key elements of the changes, the modified rule on price displays, the GVH will soon publish an informative video before Black Friday at the end of November, based on the experience of its recent comprehensive online monitoring, providing traders clear, practical examples of legitimate and avoidable price display practices. The aim of the GVH is to help domestic traders understand the regulations so that they can avoid consumer and regulatory disputes arising from misleading promotions.

The Hungarian Competition Authority's mini-videos for consumers and businesses are available on the GVH's Facebook page: https://hu-hu.facebook.com/versenyhivatal/

A video designed for undertakings on the discounts and the rules for price display will be soon available on the Authority's website.

Press Office of the GVH

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