How shopping around can save you thousands
Not doing enough research before you commit to a purchase can be a costly mistake.
New data from price comparison website PriceSpy shows big variations in prices across most categories of household items.
The website looked at the most popular five products in a range of household categories. It compared the cheapest price the product had been listed at so far this year, and the most expensive.
It also compared prices on one day in February.
On the same-day comparison, the biggest price difference of any of the products was on a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV camera, which was retailing at both $4195 and $5999 on February 21.
There was also $500 difference in the price of a Bosch washing machine across different retailers, $500 difference on a Bosch tumble drier and $400 difference on a Panasonic heat pump.
Across the year, the biggest price difference was on a DJI Mavic Pro Fly More Combo RTF drone. The cheapest price for the year was on February 12, at $1198.99. The dearest was January 4, when it was listed for $1989.
PriceSpy spokeswoman Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett said price fluctuation was to be expected.
"If a product suddenly spikes in popularity, it's safe to assume that prices may follow. It is therefore very important that consumers price-check products amongst a number of retailers before purchasing. This can save time, money and hassle. There's nothing worse than realising you paid more for an item than you should've."
She said prices might move for products that had been on the market for some time or when there was an element of seasonality. Stock levels and demand would also play a role.
"More expensive products usually have more room for price variation. The age of a product can also play a part; price variations amongst older models can be big. This often happens if shops want to get rid of the old stock. For example, following the recent launch of the Samsung Galaxy S9, we will start to see some shops having big sales offering the older Samsung Galaxy models at a cheaper rate."
Bodo Lang, a marketing lecturer, said consumers should always look for the best price they could find.
"Shopping around will result in the biggest savings for more expensive products within a category," he said.
"For example, the difference between the lowest and the highest price for a $1000 washing machine is likely to be far greater than the potential savings consumers make when buying a $500 washing machine. If a product category is seasonal or if models within a product category are frequently up-dated, serious savings can be made by buying 'end of line' models. In other words, to get the best savings, consider delaying your purchase until the end of the season."
Retail NZ spokesman Greg Harford said the retail market was competitive and retailers worked to put their best deals forward. "Depending on the product, and whether there are sales on, there is likely to be variation in price between retailers – and potentially that could be significant, depending on the particular product."
Lang said price should not be the only consideration.
"Most of the time you get what you pay for. Lower running costs and better quality often far outweigh an initial saving over the life of a product, such as an appliance.
"The easiest way to figure out which products do the best job is to look at independent test results, such as those from Consumer NZ. This is particularly worthwhile for expensive products, say anything worth more than a couple of hundred dollars. Once consumers have determined which product is best, they can then use websites such as PriceSpy to find where they can get a particular model for the best price.
"Lastly, a warning. Price should not be the only criteria to decide on a retailer. Product range, purchase advice and after sales-services are all important as well."
What are your thoughts? Do you shop around?
Written by Susan Edmunds. First appeared on Stuff.co.nz.