Catch me tomorrow morning on WTHR Weekend Sunrise at 7:45 AM! Here’s a sneak peek of some of the money saving tips I’ll share.
It’s happened to all of us at one point or another. If it hasn’t yet, it will soon. Mark my words, you will have an appliance bite the dust. And it when it does happen, you need to be prepared to get the best deal and make the right choice so it doesn’t quickly happen again. Here are some of my best tips for keeping plenty of green in your pocket when it comes to appliances.
1) Try to Get it Fixed. Don’t just toss your appliance to the curb. If you aren’t all handy yourself, call a repair shop and see if they can make the necessary tweaks to get it back up and running again. Check the Yellow Pages or online to see if any repair shops have coupons too! Sometimes, it’s a simple part that you could replace yourself or as simple as cleaning out a vent or vacuuming dust from your refrigerator. But you have to count the cost and make sure that fixing it isn’t more expensive than buying a new unit.
2) Ask for Advice. If the repairman declares your appliance officially “Dead,” then ask him what you should buy next. Typically they’ll run through a long list of what not to buy {Appliances with too many bells & whistles, lights, and working parts are more apt to break} along with some brands that they rarely have to repair.
3) Price Match. Almost every big box home improvement store is willing to match or even reduce prices to get you to purchase there. So do your homework and don’t buy the first unit you lay your eyes upon but make sure you’re getting the best possible price.
4) Scratch & Dent It. We actually just purchased a dryer at a Scratch & Dent shop on East Washington and had a FANTASTIC experience. Various Scratch & Dent shops are located all around the city, some with new product that’s been damaged cosmetically in transfer or some with used stock that has been reconditioned. You can read about experience and some my tips for Scratch & Dent Shopping here. Craigslist is a fantastic place to pick up used appliances, too.
5) Pay in Cash. No matter where you make a purchase, pull out the Benjamins to do it. When salespeople see that you have cash in hand and are willing to make a purchase with what you’ve got, many times they’re willing to deal. It’s always my practice to ask if I have a discount on almost everything I buy {obviously not in the grocery store because that would take a LONG time}. The worst they can say is no. The Scratch & Dent shop even knocked 10% off my purchase.
Don’t forget to ask about delivery and haul away fees and to calculate tax. It can be easily deceiving to see a sticker price and not realize other non-adverstised costs.
Have you ever purchased an appliance on the cheap? When? Where? And how much? Did it work?
