Looking Beyond The Ads: Tips For Saving Money On Home Appliance Purchases
The periodic replacement of home appliances is a major but necessary expense for most homeowners. While replacing appliances is less expensive than the replacement of the home's major systems or structural elements, like an HVAC system or a new roof, the cost is still large enough to encourage homeowners to spend some time and effort to find the best deal before making their final selections.
While advertised sales offer one option for getting a reduced price on appliances for both the kitchen and laundry room, there are several other options that homeowners should take time to investigate. If you are preparing to purchase new appliances for your home and would like to save as much money as possible on the cost, these suggestions can help.
Rebates
Utility companies, appliance manufacturers, and even government agencies frequently offer rebates on products that have potential to improve the home and make it more energy efficient. New appliances, such as those with the Energy Star designation, that are designed to perform their duties with lower energy consumption often come with rebates.
Model closeouts and returns
Another potential option for saving money on the purchase of one or more new appliances is to ask appliance stores and service installers if they have any model closeouts or customer returns. Model closeouts are just appliances left over from the previous year that may be offered for sale at a deep discount to make room for the new models. While closeout appliances may be a bit outdated in style or design, most dealers provide the same warranty and service agreements as they do for the current year's models.
Stores may also have some returned appliances on hand that cannot be sold as brand-new because they have been delivered or installed and then returned by the customer. Examples of when returned appliances could be a good deal include when a customer changed their mind about the color or style after their purchase, or when the customer sent the appliance back to the dealer because they had mistakenly purchased the wrong size or model.
Floor samples
Display models and floor samples are still considered to be new appliances, but they may have suffered nicks, scrapes, or other forms of slight wear from daily customer examinations or from being bumped by people or stock room workers while on display. Homeowners who are searching for possible discounted floor samples, returns, closeouts or possible rebates on appliances should always ask to speak with the manager or a qualified sales representative when visiting nearby appliance shops.