Two Iranian online stores, DigiKala and Bamilo held Iranian Black Fridays. The startups sponsored widespread advertisements in the weeks leading up to the sale and succeeded in attracting a large number of visitors to their websites. According to Taadol, an Iranian economic daily, some criticized the sales, stating them to be a copy of Western Black Friday sales which themselves are seen as problematic by a number of experts. Another problem is the lack of correlation between the timing of these sales and the Iranian calendar. Many contested that holding such sales in the middle of autumn, with no special occasions nearby is problematic and the sales should be shifted to late winter, when most Iranians shop in anticipation of the beginning of spring and the Iranian New Year, Nowruz.
An important complaint by Iranian users, regarding these sales was a lack of transparency in prices. A large number of visitors to these websites on Friday told various newspapers that the price of many items was drastically increased, and then they were put on sale with a final price sometimes even more expensive than the original price. Another complaint was that some items which were marked with high discounts were not available to customers and were marked as sold out even at the beginning of the sale. Iranians took to social media complaining about how the sales were held and there were numerous posts on websites asking if anyone had actually managed to buy these goods at the advertised prices.
The Head of Monitoring and Inspection at the Chamber of Guilds, Hosein Doroudian, told the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) that there are laws for offering discounts. Stores must acquire sale licenses from their respective unions. Sales are usually held under the supervision of unions and any violation in sales is usually met with numerous fines.
