Serbia’s winter seasonal sale may start between 25 December 2026 and 10 January 2027 and last at most 60 days. What is new for sellers this winter is something else: if you ran Black Friday or a December promotion, the promotion price can become the previous price in your seasonal sale, so the discount you may show is smaller than you planned.
Below you will find the dates and rules from the Serbian Trade Act, an example of how the start date changes the previous price, a planner that works it out for your shop, and three ways to plan Black Friday and the winter sale together.
In short: A seasonal sale starts between 25 December and 10 January, lasts up to 60 days and applies to goods. The previous price is the lowest price in the 30 days before the sale starts, including a Black Friday or other promotion price. If Black Friday ran until 30 November, a sale that starts on 31 December or later has the regular price as the previous price. Starting earlier means a smaller percentage on products that were on promotion.
When the 2026/27 winter sale starts in Serbia
| Rule | Winter sale 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Earliest start | Friday, 25 December 2026 |
| Latest start | Sunday, 10 January 2027 |
| Maximum length | 60 days: until 22 February if it starts on 25 December, until 10 March if it starts on 10 January |
| How often per year | At most twice: winter, and summer, which starts between 1 and 15 July |
| What must be shown | The sale price and the previous price, which goods the sale covers, the start and end dates and any special conditions |
Each seller picks their own start date within that window, which is why big stores do not all start on the same day. Under the law a seasonal sale is a sale of goods “after the end of the season”. A discount that starts before 25 December, such as a Christmas or New Year offer, is not a seasonal sale but a promotional sale, which lasts at most 31 days. The same applies to discounts on services.
The previous price: the lowest price in the 30 days before the sale
Article 37 of the Trade Act, as amended in 2026, says (our translation):
The previous price is the lowest price at which the trader offered the goods during the 30 days before the price reduction started, except for perishable goods and goods with a short shelf life.
The rule has applied since 1 May 2026, so this is the first winter sale it covers. The law makes no exception for a promotion that took place before the sale. The only exception is a price that is “reduced gradually and without interruption within the same sale”: if you lower the price in steps during the seasonal sale, the previous price stays the one from the 30 days before it started. Black Friday and the winter sale are two separate sales, so that exception does not apply to them. That is how we read the text of the law; we found no official interpretation for this situation.
Example. A jacket normally costs RSD 9,990. On Black Friday, from 27 to 30 November, you sell it for RSD 7,990. In the winter sale it will cost RSD 6,990.
| Sale starts | Period for the previous price | Previous price | Discount on the label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 or 26 December | from 25 or 26 November | 7,990 (Black Friday) | 12% |
| 28 December | from 28 November | 7,990 (weekend and Cyber Monday) | 12% |
| 31 December | from 1 December | 9,990 (regular) | 30% |
| 4 January | from 5 December | 9,990 (regular) | 30% |
Same jacket, same sale price, and the label shows either 12% or 30% off. If you ran Black Friday for one day only, on 27 November, the first start date unaffected by it is 28 December.
Four more things that are easy to miss:
- A promotion of up to three days counts. For a promotion of at most three days you do not have to show the old and new price; the percentage is enough. But you still offered the goods at that price, so it counts towards the lowest price of the 30 days.
- A December promotion pushes the date even further. If a promotion runs until 15 December, the first day unaffected by it is 15 January, after the window for starting a seasonal sale has closed. For a sale starting on 10 January to have the regular price as the previous price, the promotion must end by 10 December.
- The rule applies to each product separately. Products that were not on promotion have the regular price as the previous price, whenever the sale starts.
- Raising prices in December does not help. What counts is the lowest price of the 30 days, not the last one.
Seasonal sale planner
Enter the first and last day of the sale and the last day of your promotion. The planner shows the period for the previous price, the first day the promotion no longer affects it and how long the sale may last. In the second part, enter the prices for one product to get the previous price, the percentage and text for the label or product page.
1Dates of the sale and your previous promotion
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, a Christmas offer or any other promotion before the sale. If you had none, clear the date.
- Look for the previous price between
- -
- Start date unaffected by the promotion
- -
- The sale may run until
- -
2Previous price and discount for a product
Leave the promotion price empty if the product was not on promotion.
- Previous price
- -
- Discount you may show
- -
The planner applies Article 37 of the Serbian Trade Act (Official Gazette RS, nos. 52/2019 and 35/2026). The previous price is worked out for each product separately. The percentage is rounded down, so the advertised discount is never bigger than the real one. Nothing you enter is sent to a server.
For a banner such as “up to 50% off”, Article 38 also applies: the highest percentage may be advertised only if it covers at least one fifth of the goods on offer. The third part of our Black Friday calculator checks this, and the rule is the same for a seasonal sale.
Three ways to plan Black Friday and the winter sale
- Black Friday until 30 November, winter sale from 31 December. The previous price is the regular price and the discount on the label is the full one. You give up 25 to 30 December, when some competitors are already on sale.
- Winter sale from 25 December, with a smaller percentage on promoted products. You start right away, but on products that were in the Black Friday promotion the discount is worked out from the promotion price. Products that were not on promotion get the full discount.
- Split your range. Put one group of products into Black Friday and keep another for the winter sale. For example, Black Friday for electronics and gifts, and the winter sale for winter clothing and footwear, which is what a seasonal sale is meant for. That way both sales show the full percentage. This decision has to be made now, before Black Friday.
What to set up in your web shop
- Price history. WooCommerce does not remember earlier prices on its own. A plugin such as “Omnibus: show the lowest price” or “WC Price History” records prices and shows the lowest price of the last 30 days under the price. If you turned it on for Black Friday, keep it on until the end of the sale: after Black Friday it will show the promotion price as the lowest, which is what the rule requires.
- Scheduled prices. In WooCommerce you can give each product a sale price with a start and end date, so the sale starts and ends on its own. Do not set the end date after day 60.
- Sale terms on the site. The planner gives you text with the dates and the previous price rule for your sale page.
- Cache. If you use page caching, clear the cache on the day the sale starts and on the day it ends, so customers do not see the wrong prices.
We cover setting up Black Friday step by step in our Black Friday plan for small web shops, and the dates and rules in Black Friday 2026 in Serbia. We set up price history, scheduled sales and pre-season site checks as part of website maintenance.
Note: This article is a practical guide, not legal advice. The rules come from Articles 37 and 38 of the Trade Act (Official Gazette of the RS, No. 52/2019 and 35/2026). That a promotion before a seasonal sale counts towards the previous price is our reading of the law, as we found no official interpretation for this situation. Checked on 27 October 2026.
FAQ: winter sales in Serbia
When does the winter sale start in Serbia in 2026?
The winter seasonal sale may start between 25 December 2026 and 10 January 2027. Each shop picks its own start date within that window.
How long can a seasonal sale last?
At most 60 days. If it starts on 25 December it can run until 22 February at the latest, and if it starts on 10 January, until 10 March 2027.
Does Black Friday affect the winter sale?
It can. The previous price is the lowest price in the 30 days before the sale starts. If Black Friday ran until 30 November and the sale starts before 31 December, the previous price for promoted products is the Black Friday price.
What is the previous price in a sale?
The lowest price at which the trader offered the product in the 30 days before the sale started. For a product on offer for less than 30 days, a period of at least 15 days is used.
Can a seasonal sale start before 25 December?
No. A discount before 25 December is a promotional sale, which lasts at most 31 days and may not be called a seasonal sale.
How many seasonal sales can a shop have per year?
At most two: the winter sale, which starts between 25 December and 10 January, and the summer sale, which starts between 1 and 15 July.
Sources: Trade Act (Official Gazette of the RS, No. 52/2019 and 35/2026), Act Amending the Trade Act, text adopted by Parliament, Omnibus: show the lowest price, WC Price History.
