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The winter sales, ‘Les Soldes’ start tomorrow in south west France.

The winter sales start in the Midi-Pyrenees region in a few days time, with all departments having the same dates.

11^th January 2012 – 14^th February 2012 in;

Ariege

Aveyron

Gers

Haute-Garonne

Hautes-Pyrenees

Tarn

Tarn-et-Garonne

In the neighbouring region of Aquitaine, the department of Pyrenees Atlantiques (64) including Biarritz, Bayonne in the Pays Basque and Pau in Béarn and in the department of les Landes (40) including Hossegor, Dax and Mont Marsan the sales begin on Wednesday 4th January 2012 through to Tuesday 7th February included.

The final Saturday of the sales is often called the « Braderie » when unsold items are displayed in front of the shop on a market stand and all shops line up the streets like a huge market day. 

The sales in France are controlled by the French government who set fixed times during the year when shops may hold sales.  As a ‘general’ guide expect the winter sales to start the second Wednesday of January and the summer sales to start on the third Wednesday of June.  Les Soldes last for 5 weeks and shops may also have an additional two week sale period a year which can be held at a time the shop chooses as long as they make a declaration to the Prefecture one month before the sale date.

Many stores will be offering savings of up to 70% on everything from clothes to electrical goods.  Les Soldes are the only time of the year that shops are legally allowed to sell goods at a loss and many retailers use this time to get rid of old stock.  Therefore there are some real bargains to be found!

Sales and items included in the sale have to;

• Include the original price, crossed out, next to the sale price
• Sales items have to be identical to those sold outside the sale period (this is to stop an old practice of lower quality goods being manufactured specifically for the sale period
• Products must be on sale at the stated original full price for at least one month before the sale start date and actually on the shop floor one week before
• Products must be on the stores premises a minimum of one month before the start of the sale
• All sale products have to have the same guarantees as non-sale items

Generally the sale of a ‘sale’ item is final and no refund is available apart from under the following conditions;

• If there is a fundamental defect of the item the shop is obliged to replace it or give a refund although many shops will insist on a replacement product only.
• If the shop promotes a ‘refund and exchange policy’ on instore marketing materials, such as posters, or on till receipts which accompany the sale of the item then the shop is obliged to abide by this policy.

Don’t forget that the sale discounts increase as Les Soldes period comes to the end and although you may not find as much of a selection you may even be able to negotiate additional discounts with the shop owner.

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