As Black Friday frenzy migrates to NZ, shoppers should be wary of 'grey area' in law, expert warns

Black Friday prices may not be the bargain consumers expect, a marketing expert warns.

The annual commercial sales frenzy has travelled to New Zealand from the US, where buyers have been known to injure each other while pushing their way towards the bargains.

While the buying frenzies are not so violent in Aotearoa, with much of the buying done online, it is still a growing phenomenon.

Speaking this morning to TVNZ1's Breakfast programme, AUT senior lecturer Jessica Vredenburg said that the prices held up to tempt consumers may not be all they seem.

"There are definitely different pricing strategies coming into play with these sales," she said.

One such strategy is setting a "reference price" to which the sale price can be compared, and a percentage saving given.

"Maybe at the end of the day it's either not as good as we think it is, or it's just a regular price that they've made it seem like a deal."

Ms Vredenburg said there are "questions" about the practices of retailers who have been known to artificially inflate their prices before a sale so that a discount seems more legitimate - when it fact those prices are available at other times of the year.

Whether that is legal or not is "definitely a grey area", she said.

"It comes down to doing your research.

"A lot of these prices are actually available at other points of the year - we just automatically assume that it's actually a sale and it's going to be a good deal."

Many consumers are now waking up to the fact that Black Friday is not particularly good for the planet, with conversations around climate change, consumption and fast fashion becoming more common.

"Consumers are a lot more aware now and asking more questions," Ms Vredenburg said.

"We're starting to ask more questions about what's happening at the end of the product's life cycle."

The flip side of that is that some brands have woken up to woke consumers, realising that if they show they were leading the way on these issues they might gain goodwill and possible sales down the track, Ms Vredenburg said.

Watch the full interview above.