Wednesday, October 2, 2013

NEVER buy appliance parts in town to save more than 50%

If you don't absolutely, positively, my-world-is-gonna-burn-down-if-I-don't have-it-today need it done at this very second, NEVER buy your appliance parts in-store, in your town. And even if you DO need it abso-friggin-lutely RIGHT NOW, odds are, you won't be able to pick it up at Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, Appliance Fixer store #362 local anyhow. There are just so many parts, that no store is going to stock more than the most common ones. And why would you be willing to part with $60 when you could have 2-3 days of patience, and spend $20 instead? Think I'm joking? Here's a screen grab, showing the wildly differing prices for a heating element for my dryer.


Yes. There's a store selling one for $61.74, and one selling for $19.53. Guess which end of the spectrum Lowes and Home Depot fall into? Yep, the 60 dollar range. Shipping INCLUDED, and I ended up spending $28 and some pennies. Saving over HALF what I would have spent by going to a local store, and THEN WAITING for them to have it shipped, call me up, and make a second trip. I've done that before too. It took over two weeks to happen. Or, I can just type the part number in Google, and like magic, I get connected to merchants that don't have the added costs of storefronts, competing for my business, and my part arrives in a week or less. (There's even overnight service, should we be in a bind, and I'd STILL save over going to a local store.)
The only additional steps you need to take are to read the company's returns policy, which are pretty industry-standard, and to make sure you look up your actual part number on the manufacturer's website.

1 comment:

  1. applianceparts.com has a 364 day NO questions asked money back guarantee...even if you lose your temper & slam the washer door & break the part you just replaced two days beforehand! And no shipping on the 2nd part even! If I could find a reliable interwebs grocery store....yeah, I'd never shop in a "real" store!

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