Bargaining best, survey shows

Press, 13 June 1986, Page 5

Bargaining best, survey shows

Bargaining for your next television set could earn you up to $2OO off the price, according to a Consumers’ Institute survey.

Of 100 shops canvassed by anonymous institute shoppers, almost all gave a discount for a 22-inch colour set when offered cash. Average discounts were 4 per cent to 7 per cent, though some were up to $2OO off the listed price. Only about six shops, including branches of three department stores, declined to lower their normal price for cash. Small suburban shops and some television repair firms offered deals as good as those offered by big chains or large midcity stores, said the insti-

tute. In a similar survey conducted four years ago more than half the shops declined to discount. The institute’s shoppers offered an old 26-inch set with poor picture quality as a trade-in. About 60 retailers gave trade-in prices on this set without having seen it. Offers ranged from $3O to $2OO or more off the cash price. The trade-ins were found to vary even between different branches of the same store-group. In Wellington one branch of a well known group offered the institute’s shoppers $BO on an old set. Another branch offered $2OO. The Consumers’ Institute said that while the survey covered only television sets, discounts could usually be negotiated for most electronic equipment and home appliances. It advised buyers to shop around and not to be afraid of bargaining.