Get what you pay for? Some of the time

Wednesday, 16 November 2016

Are you willing to spend a bit more for a better quality wine glass?

A $15 toaster from Countdown, or a $129 model from Harvey Norman? A $59 vacuum cleaner from The Warehouse, or a $2000 version from Godfreys?

When you're shopping for appliances and homewares, it can be hard to know whether it is best to take the cheapest option you can, or pay a little more and hope for something that will last a bit longer.

Rod Duke, managing director of Briscoe Group, said New Zealanders had become more house proud over recent years.

Where once they might have gravitated to the cheapest option on the shelf, now they were more interested in where it was made, and its design.

So how do you know what it's best to splash out on, and where you can afford to skimp a bit?

Rod Duke says it's noticeable that people now expect better quality.

LAUNDRY

Paul Smith, head of testing at Consumer NZ, said there was a 'sweet spot' for most appliances, where customers could still get good performance but avoid the highest prices, and also the problems that can come with the cheapest options.

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He said front-loading washing machines had become much more sophisticated over recent years.

There was consistent washing performance across most models, he said, regardless of the price tag. But the more expensive washing machines had a lot of added functions.

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He said if someone was willing to spend $3000 on a washing machine they would not get a machine that would wash clothes three times better than a $1000 model.

'But what you will get is a whole lot more options on how you wash your clothes, there might be 15 to 20 different wash programmes.

'You see washing machines that are app-enabled so that you can monitor your washing from work if you want to. You pay extra for that feature if you need it. I'm not so sure.'

Graeme Watt, general manager for major appliances at Harvey Norman, said buying smaller models to save money was often false economy.

'If a consumer is on a tight budget and purchases too small a capacity washing machine for the amount of people in their family it will do far too many loads and may not reach the typical life expectancy for that item,' he said.

He said more expensive dryers would also be expected to offer more features, protecting a house from steam and moisture.

Watt said Harvey Norman had seen a strong increase in sales of premium products. 'You could probably draw a parallel to the number of flash new high-value European cars on our roads,' he said.

'Of course, any brand can have a fault along the way, however the premium manufacturers have a heightened sense of urgency around the servicing of their product to satisfy the consumer and protect their brand image.'

KITCHEN

Smith said he would recommend making very careful choices when it came to the big appliances in a kitchen.

'If you're buying an oven you're not just buying the appliance but you've probably designed that part of your kitchen around it. You expect these things to last for years without any problems.'

Consumer NZ testing showed Parmco and Smeg were the least reliable built-in overs, while Bosch and Westinghouse were above average.

Watt said people who paid more for ovens could expect to get features such as self-cleaning, steam cooking and, for the top-of-the-range appliances, a sous vide feature that vacuum seals food before cooking.

He said induction cooktops were more expensive but most customers said they would not go back to traditional methods once they tried it.

VACUUM CLEANERS

Smith said vacuum cleaners were another appliance where there was a 'sweet spot' range where it was not worth paying more.

Between $450 and $750, most vacuum cleaners could be expected to do a good job, he said. Consumer NZ recommends models from Miele and Electrolux. 'At that price range you'd be hard-pressed to find one that doesn't work.'

Panasonic models did well in the cheaper price range. Smith said it was still possible to find models for $99 that did the job perfectly well - although it would be harder for shoppers to sift through the options to find them.

But Smith said it was hard to justify the $2000 or more being charged for top-of-the-range vacuum cleaners. 'I can't see why it's worth that much when you've got so many that are $400 to $600 that perform as well, even slightly better.'

TOASTERS

Smith said even toasters had become more sophisticated.

Consumer recommends toasters across the price range, including a $239 option from Kitchen Aid and a $79 one from Sunbeam.

'If you look at the simple task of cooking bread, it's nice and easy,' he said. 'But with the more expensive one you get more functions such as automatically lifting the bread out. It's more complex and pricey but whether it's better performance is debatable. You're getting more for your money in a sense but you're not getting a better core product.'

He said shoppers would find that some brands were consistently reliable across their products. But he said it was rare to find brands that only dealt in 'bargain basement' prices that would perform well over the longer term.

OTHER HOUSEWARES

Duke said it had become clear that people were willing to spend a little more on a range of items, to get better quality.

He said while it was still possible to buy wine glasses for $2 from China, people were often more interested in paying a dollar or two more and picking up an Italian version. 'It's not an outrageous price difference but there is a difference and that's because the quality is different, the design is different and the weight is different.'

He said it was a matter of consumer education to find the best buys. People often did internet research on products before deciding what to purchase, he said, or sought retail staff advice.