Appliance bargains in Melbourne

August 25, 2007 2:26 AM

Melburnians! Where is the best place to get a good deal on appliances like fridges, washing machines, and dishwashers? I'm having no trouble finding places through Google but I could really use some local knowledge (Melbourne, Australia).
posted by dbateman to shopping (9 comments total)

The Good Guys or Clive Peeters (both accept cash and haggling) would be a start, and I'd also do it in the Western suburbs, Footscray outwards, maybe Hoppers Crossing or Werribee as well???

From reading about people buying plasma TVs and digital video recorders on another forum, you will often do well bringing in competitors' advertisements, and asking sales staff to match the price.

Are you currently in Melbourne? If not, ask a friend to collect some junk mail (catalogs from discount stores, etc) so you have a starting point for prices.

Also, the Aldi chain of supermarkets has a weekly catalogue, and often has electric stuff going cheap. It's usually brands I've never heard of though.
posted by flutable at 3:56 AM on August 25, 2007

Just curious, are you buying a place or moving down here for a while? Most newer rental units will have a dishwasher. You'll need to add the fridge and washing machine.

I moved here three years ago. Basically, you can haggle anywhere. Patience, qoutes from other businesses and bundling all work. I actually ended up buying my fridge, washer and dryer from Myer in the CBD at a better price than either Good Guys or Clive Peeters could do. Harvey Norman is a national chain that will also bargain.

There are a few shops in my area that I walk past regularly, but once you buy this sort of stuff you stop pricing.

One thing to keep in mind though is delivery costs, including getting into your place, unpacking and removing the rubbish.
posted by michswiss at 5:05 AM on August 25, 2007

Thanks for the tips so far. Yes - we're in Melbourne now and have just secured an apartment in Camberwell.

It's interesting that you got a better price at Myer michswiss - we would never had guessed that would be the case! We'll be sure to haggle with them too.

I know there is the Camberwell Electrics superstore in Camberwell, so maybe that would be a good place to start to keep delivery costs down. Anyone have any experience buying there?
posted by dbateman at 5:35 AM on August 25, 2007

I just bought a fridge in Melbourne.
Definitely haggle. I went to a couple of the chains mentioned above to work out what I wanted, then did some web searching and found an online retailer who had much better prices but would take several weeks to deliver. I went back to a chain (Clive Peeters) - they matched the online price and delivered in about a week.
Everywhere I looked (shops or online) charged about $50 to deliver, which included taking away the packaging.
I found the staff at Harvey Norman much more knowledgeable than those at either Myer or Clive Peeters, but maybe I just got lucky with a particularly good individual.
(Welcome to Melbourne, by the way!)
posted by une_heure_pleine at 8:03 PM on August 25, 2007

Welcome to Melbourne!

Agreed with Goodguys and Clive Peters.

I have also procured a lot of my whitegoods and smaller kitchen appliances at Kmart, Big W and Aldi - they're often cheap and work just fine. Have a look at their online catalogues and see if and when they have your specific items in mind!
posted by miz brown at 8:18 PM on August 25, 2007

I have found the guys in QLD at http://www.theelectricdiscounter.com.au/
have good prices, and a print out of what you want from there is a handy thing to take to Bing Lee (who match advertised prices) or the Good Guys.
posted by bystander at 9:09 PM on August 26, 2007

Note Kmart and Big W appliance usually have poor energy efficiency scores, even though they can be *very* cheap. If you go that way, you must wait until the product you want is on special, as they drop 40-50% when they are in the catalog.
posted by bystander at 9:10 PM on August 26, 2007

As a Melbournian I'd absolutely second the comment about haggling.

To be honest, the competition in the sector is pretty fierce - particularly if you pick the right location. I live in the outer western suburbs and one main road in our suburb has about 15 of these places within 5km.

When we're after something to buy electronics or whitegoods wise, we go to a couple of places and ask them the best deal they can do - and ask if they offer discounts or savings for cash payment.

Then we barter and haggle between stores, with the stores offering the best price getting our business.

It might require a day of work on a weekend, but if it means you save a few hundred $$, then its worth it.
posted by chris88 at 10:34 PM on August 26, 2007

Thanks everyone for the welcomes and the great advice :)

We ended up getting some good deals at the Good Guys in Nunawading (handy as it is just a few stops down the track on the Belgrave/Lilydale lines).

We bought a washer, fridge, dishwasher, microwave and vacuum cleaner with cash and got some healthy discounts. The delivery guys were great (delivery was the next day in all cases) and they installed the larger appliances for us and took away all packaging. I can highly recommend them!

We didn't haggle a great deal but ended up pleased with the results.
posted by dbateman at 1:46 AM on September 5, 2007