Winter sales: shops open tomorrow, Sunday

With prices reduced by up to 50%, mainly on clothing and footwear, and with stricter trade rules, the winter sales began last Monday, January 9th.

The period will last until February 28, 2023, which strengthens the hopes of businessmen to maintain a good sales pace. On 15/01, on the first Sunday of the sales, stores (at the request of their owners) will be open throughout the country from 11:00 to 20:00. The Ministry of Development and Investment has opened an electronic platform where consumers can express their claims and report unscrupulous traders. Complaints will be dealt with on a priority basis.

Citizens’ reports are sent to the kataggelies.mindev.gov.gr platform regarding possible trade violations in Greece, within the European Union and beyond.

The platform offers a choice of seven different categories under which consumers can file a complaint, either by name or anonymously: consumer products, services, banking, insurance and other financial services, debtor information companies, debt settlement, and privacy protection.

Even if the General Secretariat of Commerce and Consumer Protection is not responsible for a problem, the consumer is provided with information about the service to which he should contact with this issue.

New digital complaints platform for fictitious discounts, services and prices is already up and running. The link to the complaints platform website is located here. How effectively this platform will work, time will tell.

As reported, e-commerce rules are getting stricter with the adoption of the draft law of the Ministry of the Interior, which was submitted for discussion and will be considered by Parliament in the near future.

In fact, the same bill states that businesses will be required to display their VAT number, commercial register number, and professional license number on their website. At the same time, violators will face fines of up to 1.5 million euros. The fine can be as high as 3 million euros if the online store in question is fraudulent and its website will be taken down.

Big market expectations for winter sales

“The winter sales are taking place at a special time this year, amid rising prices and inflationary pressures. At the same time, they are carried out under a new legislative framework, since this time the so-called 30-day rule is in effect, accompanied by intensive checks by the Ministry of Development and Competitiveness in order to protect the consumer from fictitious discounts,” said Makis Savvidis, Vice President of the Athens Chamber of Commerce , вице-президент и представитель GRECA в Греции и член правления Европейской федерации электронной коммерции (Εμπορικού Συλλόγου Αθήνας, αντιπρόεδρος GRECA και εκπρόσωπος για την Ελλάδα και μέλος ΔΣ της Ευρωπαϊκής Ομοσπονδίας Ηλεκτρονικού Εμπορίου).

According to Mr. Savvidis, the ministry’s specific initiative is aimed at further reducing product prices, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, at protecting consumers from fictitious discounts and violations of trade rules.

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