Borzan: 72 percent of citizens have encountered fake discounts

“As many as 97.6 percent of citizens in Croatia shop at sales, and 72 percent have encountered fake discounts,” said MEP Biljana Borzan on Monday, presenting the results of a survey on citizens' experiences during seasonal sales.

According to her 2025 survey, as she stated, 97.6 percent of citizens shop at sales, most often clothing and footwear, food and appliances. However, as many as 72 percent of those surveyed said they had encountered fake discounts, and despite European and national rules on advertising discounts, more than 91 percent were disappointed with the discounts after they entered the store.

“Citizens really like to shop at sales, and that is why it is extremely important that they are fair, that they are really real discounts, and not consumer fraud,” said Biljana Borzan, urging citizens to monitor prices and report fake discounts.

She stated that during sales, a total sale is often advertised in the window, 70 percent off, and then when you enter the store, you see that one or two items have been discounted by that percentage, and the rest by 10 to 20 percent.

Therefore, she calls on citizens to monitor prices and not to be "tricked", not to fall for offers that look too good to be true.

“The last price in the 30 days before the sale must be highlighted. Unfortunately, if citizens do not monitor, manipulation often occurs, namely, the price that has been reduced is put up, when in fact the previous price is false. It turns out in the end that the reduced price is the one that was there before. You will not understand this if you have not wanted to buy that specific item for some time and you have been monitoring how much it costs, and people often fall for it thinking that they got a great deal, when in fact they paid the same price,” said Borzan.

Widespread online fraud

She also warned that major frauds are happening online, and the European Commission (EC) found that one in four discounts violate online regulations after searching 16,000 online retailers. At the EU level, she said, 61 percent of citizens claim to have come across fake discounts. Citizens also complain about influencers who do not indicate that they are paid to advertise a content, and 78 percent of customers complain that the design of online stores is such that they are led to choose an option that is not the most favorable for them.

“The online clothing store Shein is at the forefront, with three times more manipulative designs such as fake timers, false hierarchy or hiding important information through design than Asos, and many times more than Zara or H&M,” said Borzan.

“I am aware that our people find online stores like Temu and Shein attractive due to the high cost of living, but I want them to know that most research has shown that their products are often full of dangerous chemicals and are not safe,” Borzan pointed out.

She cited examples of research from Denmark that showed that 86 percent of tested jackets purchased through Temu contained harmful chemicals, and the same number of toys did not comply with safety standards. In Poland, for example, 57 percent of tested clothing contained harmful metals such as lead, cobalt and nickel, and in Italy, it was shown that 87 percent of tested cosmetics had incorrect ingredient lists or expiration dates.

Regarding Shein, she pointed out research from Poland and Belgium that showed that about half of the tested clothing and jewelry contained harmful chemicals.

Croatia at the bottom of Europe in terms of respecting consumer rights

Borzan pointed out that Croatia is still at the bottom of Europe in terms of respecting consumer rights.

Citizens, she said, have the most trust in consumer associations, and unlike the rest of Europe where state institutions enjoy 61 percent trust, only 31 percent of Croatian citizens think that the state will protect their consumer rights.

“The level of knowledge of consumer rights is also devastating, where 56 percent of citizens have very low knowledge of their rights, and only 17 percent know their rights well,” said Borzan.

She also emphasized that more market inspections are needed and the European Commission needs greater powers in the case of cross-border fraud by internet giants.

When asked by journalists about holiday spending, which is increasing every year, she replied that there are no statistics that say how many customers shopped in stores during Christmas and New Year, and we announce that we broke the record for spending, which creates a false impression that purchasing power is high.

“But prices have risen so much that I am convinced that a good part of the citizens had a much poorer table this Christmas because they could not afford much,” she said.

Source: HRT