Buy major appliances online?

[bizlady]

We are building a downsized home and need to buy all the home appliances. Have any of you purchased online, and if so, what was your experience?

Seems online prices are pretty competitive and free shipping often is included.

[ERhoosier]

Relative pricing depends on location. Many big appliance retailers in my area (large Midwest metro area). Every time I've shopped for major appliances I've found overall local prices (inc delivery) quite competitive with online retailers. Sometimes cheaper. And delivery is typically REAL delivery- i.e. installed at site of use not just curbside as in fine print of some online sellers. Plus dealing locally makes it much easier check out & compare actual appliances & deal with exchange if you happen to get a defective or damaged unit.

[Brat]

There isn't enough of a saving to justify buying on the internet. We purchased from Sears and their delivery included set-up and removal of the old appliance. A no-brainer.

[smurray5991]

I purchased a clothes dryer online from the Lowe's website a few months ago, and the price included delivery and installation as with Lowe's (and most other) brick and mortar stores. The major advantage of going online in my opinion is that is far more efficient to do comparison shopping and purchase vs. driving around to numerous stores.

My online search included all the major, familiar retail brands for appliances (i.e., Home Depot, Lowes, Sears, Best Buy, etc.), so I am not talking about purchasing from places that do nothing but deliver to the curb. I was able to research all the different models available, find the best price, and take advantage of some special discounts they had going, all without ever getting out of my pajamas -- I saw no reason at all to go to a physical store.

[bizlady]

I have checked locally and online. I can save about $500 overall online, and my builder or a local vendor will do installation as needed, for essentially the same prices.

Good to hear of smurray5991 good experience. Any others?

I much prefer to buy locally, but for $500.... I have asked one local biz with a great rep if he can match prices or find any rebates etc... we'll see.

Hope to hear from more of you!

[W2R]

I don't know anything about buying appliances online, but I bought my 55" HDTV on sale from Amazon. I didn't know what to expect, getting something that physically large, and yet breakable, online.

Delivery was just as fast as if I had bought it locally. It was delivered in perfect shape, and they checked it to make sure it was working before they left. The experience was good and I would do it again.

[BTravlin]

We bought all new appliances online several months back. Bought from Goedecker's and had all appliances shipped to us in Mexico. Prices were very competitive, their service was very good and all worked out well.

[nokkieny]

I buy everything online, got a great deal on my fridge and dishwasher, if you have time to wait for a good deal you can almost certainly get a better deal, sometimes no sales tax and it has to include delivery. I hate shopping so I would rarely buy anything at a brick and mortar store unless I already know the price going in.

[MichaelB]

We live in a large urban area with lots of competition so there are good options from the big box stores for kitchen and laundry appliances. No need to buy online, return is easier to secure as part of the deal, we've had things go wrong in the past.

[MBAustin]

I bought some of the appliances for our kitchen remodeling online, the rest at Lowe's and Best Buy. The online company is now out of business, but I had no issues and saved a lot of money. If you have some flexibility in timing, the big box stores have some pretty good sales periodically, and if you have the time, the scratch-n-dent aisles are awesome. I got $500 off our refrigerator because it had a small dent in the front.

[travelover]

You can fully negotiate appliance prices and expect a nice discount when you purchase a number of them together. Just ask.

[Senator]

With my rentals, I buy a lot of appliances, maybe a dozen per year. I buy at Lowe's. Deliver and pick up the old ones.

Find an appliance on sale. By a 10% off coupon on eBay, use a military 10% discount. The 5% discount for a Lowe's card, or call into the sales number. Ask for a 10% discount.

They will give you it even if the appliance is on sale.

Those prices cannot be beat.

[daylatedollarshort]

+1 on Lowe's of you have one nearby. When I needed a new washing machine, Lowe's price matched the lowest price I could find online (Best Buy on sale), but they had the machine in stock at their store, offered free delivery and haul away the old, offered a $50 store rebate and I bought a washer with a utility company rebate (CEE Tier 3 model).

The clerk was even nice enough to offer to charge me $5 over the Best Buy price to bring me up to the $50 rebate level. I asked him if that was okay since with rebate the price to me was $45 even lower than Best Buy, but he said it was fine.

If I had not been able to negotiate a lower price in store, I could have ordered through a shopping portal where they rebate part of the affiliate commission, like Shop Discover. Usually that is good for an extra 5% cash back.

Like travelover, I have found prices on appliances to be negotiable, just like cars. I the past I used to get the best prices negotiating at Best Buy, but that was before we had a Lowe's close by.