MediaMarkt, Carrefour and Other Major Retailers Fined for Fake Black Friday Discounts

The fined companies include MediaMarkt (€25,000), Carrefour (€21,500), PC Componentes (€1,500), perfume retailer Notino (€110,000), and e-shop Electrocosto, known as Gestaweb 2020 (€100,000). Two other companies were not disclosed.

How the Scheme Worked

The scheme was fairly straightforward. Companies increased prices on selected products a few days before Black Friday. During the actual sale event, companies then “discounted” the prices back to their original amounts. To customers, it looked like a great deal, but in reality, there was no discount at all.

The ministry labelled this as a violation of Article 47.1 m) of the General Law for the Defence of Consumers and Users. These are unfair commercial practices that deceive buyers and also violate the Retail Trade Regulation Law.

Timing is no Coincidence

The ministry released the investigation results on November 29, 2025, on Black Friday itself. It’s a clear signal to other retail chains: price manipulation will not be tolerated.

Notably, the investigation concerned Black Friday 2023 but took over two years to complete. This shows that authorities monitor and evaluate these practices over the long term.

What’s Next

The consumer authority announced it will continue monitoring other practices as well. Under scrutiny are drip pricing, pressure selling, dynamic pricing, and personalised pricing based on customers’ personal data.

According to the ministry, all these methods reduce transparency and push people toward hasty purchasing decisions.

For e-shops and major retailers, the message is clear: pricing policies during sale periods will need to be set much more carefully. Fines in the hundreds of thousands aren’t negligible, and the reputational aspect may be even more important.