A washing machine is one of those items that you don’t want to skimp on in terms of features, but they can be pretty expensive. You’ll be glad to know that some of the best products on the market are also the most affordable, but it will take some ingenuity on the part of the consumer in finding the best prices. While I’m not going to go as far as choosing a product for you, I am going to throw out some pointers to heed when shopping for cheap washing machines. As you may have read elsewhere on this site, I spent a few years in the sales industry, focusing mostly on housewares. During that time, I became pretty familiar with the ups and downs of some of these products.
So what should you be looking out for? Here are a few things:
- Warranty terms. This is one that too many people pass right over when they are about to buy a cheap washing machine. The attractive price almost always tricks the consumer into forgetting to consider what will happen if something should go wrong with the product. For instance, what happens if the power supply in the machine should break down? You’ll need to find out if the incident was something resulting from the manufacturer’s or designer’s negligence, or whether it was something that was under your direct control. The most favorable warranty terms will have quite a bit of flexibility in the area of defect, but the cheaper products are sometimes missing these terms. What’s the lesson here? Be sure to find a well-established brand and a product that is positively reviewed on a reputable consumer website such as Amazon or Consumer Reports. While you may think that it’s impossible to find a quality product at a lower price, this is far from the case. Many stores are desperate to unload products in a bad economic climate!
- Reviews. I mentioned this briefly in the first point, and it bears repeating because it is so important. I can’t believe the number of people who will go to a brick and mortar store and buy a cheap washing machine just because it happens to be on sale. Do your due diligence! There’s no excuse not to leverage the power of internet research, finding what other people have to say about the products they own. Believe me: If a person purchases a product and is unhappy with it, chances are they will detail their experiences on the internet. This is because these people need to vent their frustrations, and in the process they will reveal some useful information to the discerning consumer. The bottom line: Learn from other peoples’ expensive mistakes. Just some food for thought while you’re searching for cheap washing machines online!
- Features. Most people who are looking at that big “cheap washing machines for sale” sign at the local appliance store never consider that they can get a product with top of the line features at affordable prices. Here are a few of the best features to consider: high quality porcelain (scratch-resistant lids), dial controls that are easy to manipulate vs. fiddly digital touch pads, and automatic bleach dispensers.
One last thing I want to mention before I let you loose on the appliance store: Water usage. I mention this only because the general theme of this article is economic efficiency, and water can get pretty darn expensive every month. Generally speaking, top loading washers are the least water-efficient products out there (not to mention the fact that they can become unbalanced with too large a load). You might want to look into a front loader. While these washers have their own downsides, they generally use less water than their top loading brethren because they only fill partially with water.
Want more information on washing machines? Check out my recent article on the IQ-Touch Electrolux washing machine
Want more water dispenser information? Head to the front page of the site for more!
