1: Purchase During a Promotion
When it comes to appliance shopping, timing can be everything.
Manufacturers put their products on sale periodically throughout the year. Sale periods are usually centered around major shopping holidays, and
all sales are time limited. How many times have you heard slogans like, "Hurry, this offer won't last," Or, "Quantities are limited, so order today?" Or have you seen a web site with a ticking clock counting down next to the price? This technique is called
building urgency and manufacturers love to use it to try to push you off the fence and into making a purchase. (And yes, sometimes we're guilty of doing this, too. You'll see why in a minute, though.)
The truth is that the ticking clock is real, and when the sale starts your price goes down, and when it ends your price goes back up. So what?
Normally, your need to buy an appliance is not urgent. If you can afford to wait, you can time your purchase to coincide with a sale period that's advantageous for
you.
It seems obvious that you can save money by buying something when it's on sale. But did you know that not all sales are created equal? There are both
major and
minor promotions spaced throughout the year, divided up by how much the manufacturers plan to sell during each period. If you can wait until a sale, that's great. But if you can wait until a major promotion, that's
even better!
Here's a rough guide to the common major and minor promotions throughout the year:
Of course, current sale information will always be available on our web site, including sale end dates.
Major promotions are Independence Day and Black Friday. These are the biggest sales of the year, every year.
Minor promotions are Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Columbus Day.
Note that despite the names, these promotions are never limited to just that one day. Sale periods usually run for about three weeks at a time and the discounts do not change throughout the sale. There is no advantage to trying buy precisely on Black Friday, or Columbus Day, or any other particular holiday. What
will happen is that inventory of popular items will diminish throughout the sale, so purchasing earlier in a sale is often advantageous -- delivery lead times at the beginning of a promotional period are usually significantly better than at the end.
Also note that
speciality appliances are almost never placed on promotion. Items such as wine and beverage coolers, compact or built in refrigerators, ice makers, apartment size ranges and dishwashers, and in particular entry level and low end models tend not get placed on promotion, so there's no advantage to waiting before purchasing these particular types of product.
