Summer sales get off to a good start in Majorca

THE summer sales got off to a good start yesterday morning with queues of shoppers waiting for shops to open so that they could grab the best bargains. Prices have been slashed more than last year, and a spokesman for the traders said that this was a continuation of the trend shown in winter.
Prior to that, the sales would start with moderate reductions, then after a period there would be another reduction.
However, the spokesman said, this year, the sales will be “shorter but more intense” with big reductions right from Day One.
And signs reading “50 per cent reductions” bore this out, much to the delight of the bargain hunters.
Pere Ferrer, the president of the traders division of Pimem (small and medium sized businesses), the sales are strongest in the textile and footwear sectors as these products are considered “perishable” because they go out of fashion. Consumer rights are in no way affected by the sales, and the consumer department points out that items on sale must show the old price as well as the sales price. When a shop advertises sales - Rebajas - it must affect at least half the articles.
The normal guarantee period of two years also applies, and customers should demand and keep the sales receipt.
This year the Balearic government's language department has provided shops with 20'000 free posters, advertising the Rebaixes, as the sales are known in Catalan.