On a bustling Sydney shopping strip this week, Wendy was browsing but not yet buying \u2014 and not for any lack of plans to spoil her grandson this Christmas.<\/p>\n
“I haven’t started shopping because it’s not true Black Friday yet,” she told The Business from Pitt Street Mall, in the heart of the CBD.<\/p>\n
Email inboxes, social media algorithms and shop windows have been overrun with promotions for weeks already, but Black Friday and Cyber Monday actually fall this weekend.<\/p>\n
Wendy said she preferred to shop during discount periods and has been holding out hope of scoring better deals, Friday, November 28.<\/p>\n
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Shopper Wendy is happy to buy into Black Friday sales \u2014 when she finds genuine bargains. (ABC News: David Taylor)<\/p>\n
But the Sydney grandmother will not be setting herself a budget.<\/p>\n
“If I did, I’d just blow it \u2026 I just believe in abundance.”More credit cards, more outstanding debt<\/p>\n
With millions of Australians tipped to spend a record $6.8 billion over the coming weekend<\/a>, many will be purchasing items on credit.<\/p>\n Data from consumer analytics firm Equifax has shown that, outside the housing market, consumer credit demand rose 18 per cent <\/a>in the three months to September, compared to the same period last year.<\/p>\n Australians are not only taking on more credit but missing repayments when they’re due.\u00a0 (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)<\/p>\n Equifax reported credit card applications were up 13.3 per cent over the year to the September quarter, while personal loans grew 11.6 per cent.<\/p>\n Not only have Australians been taking on more credit, they have also been leaving more of that debt outstanding \u2014 for example, not paying off a full credit card balance by the end of the month.<\/p>\n Dodgy sales tactics to watch for<\/a><\/p>\n When it comes to Black Friday sales, most shoppers expect to be accosted with aggressive marketing material. But the cumulative effects of these ads can be damaging.\u00a0<\/p>\n The value of personal credit and charge-card balances accruing interest shot up a four-year high of to $18.4 billion in September, according to the Bureau of Statistics.<\/p>\n That was its highest level since July 2021, when it was $18.9 billion.<\/p>\n ‘It’s really hard for people to say no’<\/p>\n Consumer advocate Deb Shroot warned Australians can feel social pressure to spend more in the months leading up to Christmas.<\/p>\n “There is a lot of social pressure out there and the expectations that the social norms have on people to provide certain things for their family,” said Ms Shroot, a counsellor with Financial Counselling Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n “There are a lot of things tempting people as well \u2014 the Black Friday sale ads are all over the place, so it’s really, really hard for people to say no.”<\/p>\n Hundreds of thousands of Australians choose the big credit providers.<\/p>\n Deb Shroot says “social norms” have developed around Black Friday sales. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)<\/p>\n Data from the Reserve Bank shows 881,800 credit and card-charge cash advances from “larger” Australian card issuers in November last year. That increased 4 per cent to 916,600 by February.<\/p>\n But Ms Shroot says Australians are increasingly turning to buy now, pay later (BNPL) services, a form of credit usually entered into at the point of sale.<\/p>\n Financial hardship resources:<\/p>\n Generally, shoppers buy a product, take it home and pay it off in regular instalments, for example, fortnightly payments over eight weeks.<\/p>\n Instead of paying interest, there are usually different fees for late repayments.<\/p>\n The National Debt Helpline<\/a>, an independent service providing financial counselling to indebted Australians, has seen an increase in callers struggling with BNPL issues.<\/p>\n “This year, so far, over 7 per cent more buy now, pay later issues have come through than in previous years and we still have another six weeks of reporting to go,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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