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Buying Whitegoods on a Budget
Approximate $ Savings: Over $800 on Fridge & Freezer
Recently we purchased a pigeon pair fridge and freezer (two separate units). We managed to save in three ways:
1. Haggling between stores. Nothing new I know...but please keep reading! I shopped around, searched the web and negotiated the prices. Isn't it amazing how much more the prices will drop because a competitor can do better? You know you've gone pretty much as far as you can when no other store will beat or even match your quote!
2. Free delivery. Yes, I negotiated free delivery too. Interestingly, if I purchased the same items from the Eastern States online I would be charged only $50 for both, yet some shops were trying to charge me that much for the Perth metro area (insane).
3. Extended Warranty. Once I'd negotiated the best deal, the sales person then tried selling me an additional 3year warranty at a cost of $218. Tempted, we decided against it. When the fridge and freezer were delivered the delivery driver gave me an extended warranty form direct from the manufacturer charging $165! The shop that we made the purchase through would have made an additional $53 in profit had we extended the warranty! We aren't going to take up the extended warranty. We've bought good brands and know the manufacturer only offers insurance because they are confident it's unlikely anything will go wrong with a new product within the warranty period....it's just another way of increasing profits for little work. My current fridge/freezer is still going strong after 11 years and is only being replaced because it's simply too small for a family of 5!
How much did we save? If I hadn't negotiated on the price, we would have paid an extra $398 (including delivery of $45). Ironically they were the cheapest store in the first place (Rick Hart). The store charging the most for the fridge and freezer was Harvey Norman, by an extra $798 + delivery. It is pretty disgraceful that mark-ups can be so extreme but by being informed, persistent and upfront you can get the best deal.
Lastly I found a rather good website offering nice prices on the items I purchased, the website is http://www.appliancesonline.com.au/. I used this as a bench mark, if I couldn't get a price close to theirs then I was going to buy direct from them, postage only $50 an order (not bad) for Eastern States. As it ends up, I was able to beat their price by $136 including postage (remember I negotiated free postage on my delivery). Ideally I wanted to buy in Perth in case we had problems with the item being delivered damaged. Rick Hart was easy to deal with, the fridge and freezer arrived on time and the delivery person was very professional and friendly. I was nervous as the fridge and freezer were unpackaged outside as they wouldn't fit through the door in their packaging, but the delivery person was so careful and slow, definitely 5 star service.
Contributed by Tanya
Recently we purchased a pigeon pair fridge and freezer (two separate units). We managed to save in three ways:
1. Haggling between stores. Nothing new I know...but please keep reading! I shopped around, searched the web and negotiated the prices. Isn't it amazing how much more the prices will drop because a competitor can do better? You know you've gone pretty much as far as you can when no other store will beat or even match your quote!
2. Free delivery. Yes, I negotiated free delivery too. Interestingly, if I purchased the same items from the Eastern States online I would be charged only $50 for both, yet some shops were trying to charge me that much for the Perth metro area (insane).
3. Extended Warranty. Once I'd negotiated the best deal, the sales person then tried selling me an additional 3year warranty at a cost of $218. Tempted, we decided against it. When the fridge and freezer were delivered the delivery driver gave me an extended warranty form direct from the manufacturer charging $165! The shop that we made the purchase through would have made an additional $53 in profit had we extended the warranty! We aren't going to take up the extended warranty. We've bought good brands and know the manufacturer only offers insurance because they are confident it's unlikely anything will go wrong with a new product within the warranty period....it's just another way of increasing profits for little work. My current fridge/freezer is still going strong after 11 years and is only being replaced because it's simply too small for a family of 5!
How much did we save? If I hadn't negotiated on the price, we would have paid an extra $398 (including delivery of $45). Ironically they were the cheapest store in the first place (Rick Hart). The store charging the most for the fridge and freezer was Harvey Norman, by an extra $798 + delivery. It is pretty disgraceful that mark-ups can be so extreme but by being informed, persistent and upfront you can get the best deal.
Lastly I found a rather good website offering nice prices on the items I purchased, the website is http://www.appliancesonline.com.au/. I used this as a bench mark, if I couldn't get a price close to theirs then I was going to buy direct from them, postage only $50 an order (not bad) for Eastern States. As it ends up, I was able to beat their price by $136 including postage (remember I negotiated free postage on my delivery). Ideally I wanted to buy in Perth in case we had problems with the item being delivered damaged. Rick Hart was easy to deal with, the fridge and freezer arrived on time and the delivery person was very professional and friendly. I was nervous as the fridge and freezer were unpackaged outside as they wouldn't fit through the door in their packaging, but the delivery person was so careful and slow, definitely 5 star service.
Contributed by Tanya