10 June 2026.
The end of financial year sales arrive each year with promotions for 鈥榚xclusive offers鈥� and 鈥榦ur biggest sale ever鈥�, but 糖心Vlog experts say be wary of the retail tricks designed to get you spending more than you planned.
鈥淭he end of financial year sales can be a great time to get your hands on that slick new appliance for your home, but with many retailers competing for your cash, it鈥檚 important to know the tricks and traps to avoid getting ripped off or accidentally purchasing a dud product,鈥� says 糖心Vlog Editorial Director, Mark Serrels.
The EOFY sales traps to watch out for:
1. Discounted duds
鈥淥ften, many retailers clear out old stock to improve their finances by the end of the fiscal year. This usually results in putting unpopular products, or older models that haven鈥檛 been able to sell on sale to make room for newer ones,鈥� says Serrels.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen numerous products that performed poorly in our tests having big discounts during the sales. So remember, just because a product is advertised at a discounted price, it doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 necessarily a good deal.鈥�
2. Fake urgency
鈥淩etailer messaging like 鈥榤ust buy, sale ends soon!鈥� or 鈥榦nly 2 left in stock鈥� are designed to create pressure and get you to panic buy. Remember, the EOFY is just one sales period; last year, we saw sales extended into July, so it鈥檚 better to take time to do research to ensure you鈥檙e grabbing a good bargain,鈥� says Serrels.
3. Brand blindness
鈥淲e consistently see products from the same brand have widely different results in our testing. So make sure you don鈥檛 pay for expensive features you won鈥檛 use or upgrade unnecessarily,鈥� says Serrels.
4. Unnecessary extended warranties
鈥淓xtended warranties, also sometimes called 鈥榩rotection鈥� or 鈥榩roduct care plans鈥�, are usually nothing more than a sneaky sales tactic to get you spending more than what is already in your right. Next time, ask the salesperson – what protections does it give me beyond the Australian Consumer Law?,鈥� says Serrels.
5. Fake shopping websites
鈥淔ake websites have become far too common, and when you鈥檙e making a purchase that might seem like the real deal, we advise you to double check before adding it to your cart. Look out for things like unusual URLs, poor spelling, or massive discounts, which signal red flags!,鈥� says Serrels.
