Online bargain hunters say Black Friday is all a con: Digital shoppers claim retailers increased prices while advertising massive sales

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Angry online shoppers branded Black Friday a ‘con’ last night, claiming retailers had increased their prices while advertising big sales.

Others claimed stores had pushed up prices before the event to make special offers appear better value for money.

Internet fashion retailer Asos admitted it had cut back some of its discounts prior to Black Friday to ‘make way’ for its ‘20 per cent off everything’ deal yesterday.

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Online shoppers claim Black Friday is a con after retailers increased their prices while advertising big sales

The website – which offers high street brands and its own designs, worn by everyone from Samantha Cameron and Michelle Obama to singer Rihanna – left shoppers bemused when they returned to their online ‘basket’ to find some goods had increased in price overnight.

Consumer group Which? warned retailers last night to ‘play fair’ and ‘make special offers special’.

Common complaints were that sites had dropped the price of some goods but increased the cost of others to capitalise on the rush of buyers. 

One Twitter user accused an Amazon seller of putting the price up on its iPadAir tablet computer yesterday. He wrote: ‘Please investigate #BlackFriday deals – retailers selling old stock at discount – #Amazon even increased prices on iPadAir.’

Nick Robertson's company Asos has been accused of pushing up its prices ahead of Black Friday discounts 

Shoppers were left bemused after they found items in their shopping basket had gone up in price overnight

The businessman claimed to have selected the device, which was sold through a third party, for his online basket two weeks ago at £342. But when he returned to the webpage to buy the item yesterday, it had risen to £372.

He told the Mail: ‘Retailers want to get on to the bandwagon of the American Black Friday sale but I feel saddened that not all deals are what they seem.’

Amazon has also been accused of being a 'con' after a third-party seller reduced the price of an iPad

Amazon said the iPad deal was offered by third-party sellers in Amazon Marketplace and was not included in Amazon.co.uk’s Black Friday deals.

Several others accused Asos of increasing prices. Writing online, shopper Katie Lea accused the brand of putting ‘loads’ of their sale items ‘back to the original prices for Black Friday’.

Another customer asked Asos why a pair of denim hot pants cost £25 yesterday despite being only £20 the day before. She said: ‘Any reason why you’ve put prices up on #BlackFriday? No savings?’

Asos said: ‘We haven’t increased any prices – promise!’ But the retailer added that ‘some promos that we had been running before have now ended’.

Kirby Throop, from Leicestershire, tweeted: ‘It’s not really a Black Friday offer when you put your discounted items back up to full price and THEN offer 20 per cent off, Asos, sorry.’

One shopper summed up the frustration, writing on Twitter: ‘#BlackFriday in the #UK is a con, folks! All they do is change the promotional displays.’

An Asos spokesman said some prices had risen as ‘there is one promotion of 20 per cent across everything globally’.