Appliance Shopping Guide - Three Cs to Remember When Buying Appliances

Introduction

The holidays are just around the corner and promos are being released by stores here and there. Aside from buying gifts for family and friends during this season, you might already have a wishlist on what to buy for yourself.

Are you eyeing a more efficient air-conditioner or a wide vibrant LED TV for your living room this Christmas? Purchasing appliances involving large sum of money is not an easy decision especially for your hard-earned money. I curated the steps I usually do when buying appliances. Head down below to know the three important Cs that I want to share to you when buying appliances in general.

1. Checklist

Know Your Budget

Budget is the most important point to know because this will limit or hinder your purchase.

Know Your “Needs”

Why are you buying this appliance? How do you envision the appliance in helping you improve your quality of life? Will you save more time and money as you use the tools over time? If yes, the next step is to determine the different factors that will affect the usage of the appliance. For example,

• Washing Machine
  • How heavy are your clothes per wash?
  • How frequent do you wash your clothes? Daily or weekly?
  • Are you willing to split the laundry in multiple batches?
• Refrigerator
  • How many people are there in your household?
  • Do you love to cook?
  • How much food do you store on a regular basis?
• TV
  • How far is your couch from the TV rack?
  • Do you need the features of a smart TV?
• Air-conditioner
  • How big is the room that needs to be cooled?
  • Will the air-conditioner operate for long hours?

Know Your Wants

More expensive variants of appliances usually have more features and more advanced technology. If you think that those additional features will be very helpful and make you more efficient, you can always opt for the higher-end types as long as you have the budget. See some extra features of appliances that you might want below.

• Washing Machine
  • You might want to save more water and go for a front load variant.
  • If it will be too much of a hassle to split the clothes by batches, you can go for a larger capacity one.
• Refrigerator
  • You might want fancy features like ice dispensers or even see through doors.
• TV
  • Have you heard of the statement “Bigger is Better” when buying TVs? You might want to buy a bigger TV for a more immense experience.
  • Do you have a plan of building your own home theater in the future? A bigger TV will definitely match your Hi-Fi setup.
• Air-conditioner
  • If you are starting to integrate smart features in your home, you might want to also control your air-conditioner through your smartphone.

Know the Brands’ Specialties

Search for the top and recommended brands for a specific appliance. Check for the common problems of users with first-hand experience of the brands and their makes. Also, list out alternative quality brands in case your top choice is not available.

It is important to note that you should not stick to a single brand for all your appliances. If for example, Brand X is well-known in making good quality TVs, it does NOT mean that Brand X is already good in making a different kind of appliance.

2. Canvas (Online and Offline)

• View items online to have a list of potential desired items. List them down. This will serve as your baseline.
• Visit your local stores to check item availability and prices.
  • Some local appliances stores:
    • Abenson
    • Anson’s
    • Automatic Centre
    • SM Appliance Center
    • Western Appliances
  • Do not expect to find the exact models you encountered online on your local appliances stores (unless you’re in the US, EU, or other major ones).

Recommendation: Most of the time, we buy our appliances at Anson’s because of the competitive prices and location.

3. Cash

• Always ask if the store offers cash discount. The posted prices in stores are usually the SRPs (Suggested Retail Price).
• Ask if price of cash payment is the same as (or slightly differs from) straight payment using a credit card. Better stick with your credit card if there is only little difference to earn rewards points.
• Beware of the 0% interest installment being offered by merchants as you will probably be paying the SRP.
• If the cash discount is already huge but still out of your budget, maybe that is a sign that you need to save more money and wait until you have sufficient budget for that item.
• Important Note: Paying in cash is not always the best option especially if it will disrupt your cash flow. This is more applicable to entrepreneurs who need funds for their businesses. Example, given the ff:
  • SRP: 100,000PHP
  • Cash Discount: 30,000PHP
  • 0% 12mos. Installment: 8,333.33PHP per month

  If you can generate more than 30,000PHP in one year using that capital, you may opt to pay in installment.

Tip: If you have decided that you will buy the item at Anson’s and pay in cash, ask for the manager’s discount. This can save you a few and you can use it for the delivery fee.

Conclusion

Buying things is very exciting and fun for most people. But for some (like me), it is quite stressful because I want to buy things that provide the most bang for my buck and to ensure that I will not regret my purchases in the end.

This is not a bulletproof buying guide. The most important thing to remember is to always spend within your allotted budget (without breaking the bank).

I hope that the brief guide I made help you be a wiser shopper.

Happy holidays! Cheers!