So it’s ‘Black Friday week’, with discounts of up to 50 per cent off being promised.

You must be having a laugh. Have people become so stupid as to believe business are actually going to give them something for next to nothing?

Just because something is advertised as a bargain doesn’t mean it necessarily is one.

I have spoken to people whose chosen items have actually gone up in the sale. You have to be very careful at sale times - things aren’t always what they appear.

The secret of a sale is to put the sale tickets up quickly (people think they’re being smart and jumping the gun) and take them down slowly and (so people think they’ve grabbed a last minute bargain).

But in my experience most ‘sale items’ are bought in to sell at the price they sell them at. Genuine bargains are few and far between.

DM Deamer, Penleys Grove Street, Monkgate, York