A Bit of Bargaining for a Good Bargain
scotty on 08/01/2007 at 10:50 pm, filed under UncategorizedSometimes, you need to do a bit of bargaining to get a real good bargain, even for online stores.
Shopping for a washing machine
Recently we bought a brand new washing machine, because our old top-loader had constant problems over the last two years, and we could almost buy a new machine from the money we paid to fix that bugger up. We settled on a front-loading Electrolux, model EWF 1087 to be exact. It has great reviews, Electrolux is a trusted brand, and it is an out-going model we heard, which means there is a chance we might grab a good bargain.
The next thing? Find the cheapest one.
What we did first is to use the online price comparison sites like DoorOne, ShopFerret and ShopBot. Yes — use them all because they do not always carry the same list of shops. Another cost to factor in is delivery charge. For white goods it can become very expensive, especially if they are inter-states or you don’t happen to drive a ute.
The cheapest comes down to The Electric Discounter in Queensland — $688. However, delivery to Sydney will cost $55, which comes down to $743 — still the cheapest on the list.
Well, we then try to bring the online price we gathered from the price comparison sites to a real shop front and asked for price match. We tried The Good Guys Discounted Warehouse in Alexandria and RetraVision in Kingsford. One laughed at us, and one never called back. Well, maybe their “low price” is not really guaranteed. No, we did not even bother to ask Bing Lee — their listed price is already $250 dealer than The Electric Discounter’s.
However, my wife and I really like to buy from a Sydney shop just in case there’s any warranty claims. So my wife rang up Appliances Online, who is selling the same Electrolux online for $747 including delivery, to see whether they are willing to match the price. They are in Waterloo so very close to us.
Then the person on the phone was willing to sell us the washing machine for $730, delivery included. Moreover, their technician will install it for us, i.e. connecting the pipe, etc, whereas The Electric Discounter is only willing to drop it at our front-door. Plus Sydney’s $150 rebate on front-loading washing machines, our 7kg new Electrolux turned out to be only $580 delivered and installed. Well, that sounds like a done deal to me.
Moral of the story — sometimes you can even try a bit of bargaining on online stores, if they happen to have price matching policy and a number you can call. Do your research, and you might be surprised that how willing they want to do business with you.
Shopping for furnitures
Here is another story. During the Christmas-New Year holidays, we also brought a new single bed + a tall boy from Knott’s Pine in SupaCenta. Tall boy is on special for $199, and the bed frame costs $299. So together it should be $498.
However at checkout, even without asking or any act of bargaining, Knott’s Pine knocks off $48 from the final price, and made it $450 for both items. Yup. Quick discount WITHOUT a single request.
Maybe we could have bring down the price even further if we asked. Maybe.
nice bargaining on the washing machine scotty (and scotty’s wife!).
Whatever/wherever I’m buying, I always try to at least say “is that the cheapest you can do?”, you never know unless you ask. You can gauge how much they may be willing to discount by their response. If they don’t immediately say no, it may be worth pushing a little bit more. My wife hates asking, she feels like a cheap skate, but that’s what it’s all about, being cheap :) there’s nothing wrong with it.
Your post reminded me of a couple of bargain hunting tips that I’d like to share:
– Just because it’s a bargain price does not mean it’s a bargain. Check for warranty/delivery and also customer service, are they going to want to know you if it breaks? Are they a reputable company or a fly-by-night operation? Getting a good price is a great feeling, but not at the cost of other important factors.
– Sometimes it’s better to just settle for an average price than to spend too long searching for a bargain price. I’d much rather have my time than save a few dollars, my time is worth a lot these days now that we have 2 babies!
– Jaxx
Great bargain hunting Scotty
Another price comparison website is ausprices.com.au – the best for that washing machine was Appliances Online.
What you’ve done is a model of how to use the internet to get a good deal on nearly everything… something I am trying to teach my readers.
Nice work
Jonk
Jaxx — great tips. You are absolutely right — at the end price is not everything. We can sometimes so indulged in saving that extra dollar or two, and forget what’s more important. Somethings are only cheap if time spent is worthless.
Jonks — thanks!
I have also purchased the EWF 1087 frontloader and have been horrified at its energy consumption. Even though it uses less water it uses five times the energy of our old washer and the energy consumption they claim on the washer are completely false
yeah never buy this machine again, ours only 3 years old and done 3 lots shocks and now motor and service people dont give a crap!stay away from elextrolux bad choice!!