A survey conducted by Procon in São Paulo and released this Wednesday (07) on the prices of products and services in high demand due to Father’s Day, to be celebrated next Sunday, suggests that consumers should research to pay a fair price when buying a gift or choosing a place for family lunch. For the first time, Procon compared the prices of lunches using the all-you-can-eat system at steakhouses in São Paulo, and found that prices varied by up to 450%.
Data collection was carried out between July 23 and 30 and Procon established three categories: electronic products, men’s perfumes and steakhouses.
In the case of electronic products, 46 items among them smartphonesnotebooks and smartwatches sold by Carrefour, Casas Bahia, Extra, Magazine Luiza, Ponto Frio and Amazon had price differences of 32.58% for smartphones and 41.15% for notebooks. The biggest price difference was between smartwatchesof 92.68%. A device from the Xiaomi brand, model Redmi Watch 4 in black, cost R$949.99 in one establishment and, in another, R$493.05.
As for perfumes, 23 items from different brands were researched and their prices were compared on the websites Beleza na Web, Época Cosméticos, Lojas Renner, Sephora and Zattini. The biggest price difference found was 83.41% for the Calvin Klein brand perfume, Ck In2U Masculine Eau de Toilette, 100 ml, for R$429.00 in one establishment and for R$233.90 in another.
As in many cities, families in São Paulo also tend to choose steakhouses to gather the family to celebrate Father’s Day, and so Procon innovated by including the prices of all-you-can-eat meals in its survey. In 50 steakhouses in the five regions of the capital (center, east, west, north and south), the variation found was striking: 450% in prices charged on Sundays. The highest price per person was found in the south zone, at R$220, while in another zone in the same region the price was R$40.00. The smallest price variation was found in the east zone – 223.19% – with the lowest all-you-can-eat price at R$44.90 and the highest at R$149.90. Procon concluded that the average price of an all-you-can-eat meal at a steakhouse on Sundays was R$108.19.
Tips
Procon makes some recommendations:
Searching online stores is a good alternative to analyze product characteristics and prices;
If you are going to pay for your purchase in installments using your card, it is good to know what the interest rate is and the amount of each installment, as well as the final amount;
When choosing a perfume, the information must be in Portuguese, such as expiration date, composition and volume, indicating registration with the regulatory body;
Always demand the invoice
For those who are going out to eat, tipping is not mandatory, it is the customer’s choice.
The establishment cannot charge a waste fee if the consumer leaves leftovers from their meal on their plate.
Check out the full survey here