5 Ways to Save on Large Appliances This Black Friday

To be sure, inflation has had an impact on large-appliance prices. But that’s tempered this season by larger promotional discounts from manufacturers that get passed from retailers to consumers. The rising cost of materials has increased retail prices for ranges and refrigerators, says Carter’s colleague Eleni Fialo, an analyst who covers ranges for Gap Intelligence. But because the discounts are deeper this season, consumers will actually save more money overall. Last year, for instance, Samsung discounted its slide-in and freestanding ranges 10 percent more compared with 2022.

This season, as always, appliances suites—also called bundles—are the focus of discounting. But the deals will be better, Fialo says. "Bundles are being discounted more," she says. "You’re seeing more bang for your buck. Bundles will continue to play a large factor in manufacturers’ and retailers’ promotional strategies, offering consumers additional savings when products are purchased together."

For instance, last year turned up a 40 percent discount on an LG front-load washer that’s rated excellent by Consumer Reports. Bundling it with another qualifying model netted a Best Buy gift card of $150. (Uniquely, Best Buy lets you search for items based on their percentage discount.)

Fialo says that stores are also getting more flexible and creative in marketing large appliances and bundles. Home Depot’s website, for example, lets you remove a model in a bundle you’re not interested in. You also can swap out one model for another. The manufacturer LG is currently offering a free gift—a compact refrigerator—to customers who buy certain refrigerator models through Dec. 3.

As good as the prospects seem this season for deals on dishwashers, ranges, refrigerators, washing machines, and other major home appliances, you can still use some special tactics to maximize your savings and make your shopping job easier.

You might be tempted by offers and rebates on matching kitchen suites—typically a refrigerator, range, dishwasher, and microwave—from the same maker. Last year, for example, Home Depot offered a suite of Samsung stainless steel kitchen appliances (including a French-door refrigerator and a smoothtop electric range) for $4,742, a 43 percent discount.

But price is only part of the equation when you’re purchasing appliances. Reliability is key, and it can vary within a brand’s offerings. Consumer Reports’ exclusive brand reliability ratings reveal that Samsung French-door refrigerators and dishwashers earn below-par reliability ratings, and its electric smoothtop ranges and over-the-range microwave ovens earn a middling score.

“Not every discount is a good deal, especially if you end up with a brand that’s repair-prone,” says Mark Allwood, CR’s market analyst for large appliances.

Different styles of appliances from the same brand also can differ in reliability. For instance, GE’s French-door and built-in refrigerators receive midrange marks, but its side-by-side, top-freezer, and traditional bottom-freezer models earn impressive scores. Among its ranges, gas and electric smoothtop models excel in predicted reliability. GE electric induction and coil ranges are strong but not outstanding for reliability, our survey-based ratings show.

Take advantage of the online tools that many retailers offer to quickly find what’s in stock locally and available for delivery now—key to keeping your sanity while supplies remain low.

Last year, we honed our search of available French-door fridges on the Best Buy site to 199 from 257 by clicking on “Exclude Out-of-Stock Items" under "Availability.” (Lowe’s default is to include only in-stock items and give you the choice of showing out-of-stock items.)

You also can easily find out what’s on sale. Home Depot has a page dedicated to large-appliance savings, and on its pages devoted to a single appliance category—say, dishwashers or fridges—the retailer lets you select Black Friday sales items exclusively. Best Buy does the same. Best Buy also lets you select products according to their percentage discount and offers a "Current Deals" section with several types of bargains—including those only for its loyalty club members. Lowe’s lets you choose sales items, models eligible for "buy more, save more" discounts, and even appliances that come with a free gift upon purchase.

Some retailers offer extra online shopping tools. Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha, for instance, can demonstrate appliance features via virtual appointments. For iPhone users, Home Depot’s app can provide a three-dimensional image of an appliance on your phone’s screen that you can view alongside your existing cabinets and counters to get a better sense of how it will look installed.

Ordering online often comes with free shipping, though you probably can’t skip out on tax. And you can still attempt to barter by contacting a customer service rep either by phone or in an online chat.

There are a lot of reasons to visit a store before buying a large appliance, including making sure that you like the setup and feel of the controls. For refrigerators and dishwashers, it’s also helpful to check in person whether big plates and other serving pieces will fit.

Notably, a lot of price-shopping happens online. According to a nationally representative 2023 CR survey of 2,160 Americans who had purchased large appliances in the past two years, about a quarter—27 percent—preferred to do all their research on, and comparisons of, those appliances online. Most of the rest also preferred to do at least some of their research online, with some in stores—only 11 percent said they preferred to do all their research and comparisons in a physical store. 

But half of large-appliance shoppers did their initial research online and then went into walk-in stores to see the products in person.

"One hundred percent, there is a benefit of going in-store," Fialo says. "You’ll find deeper discounts, during Black Friday specifically. For the large appliance industry as a whole, discounts heading into November 2024 are averaging 20 percent off, which is consistent with the previous year as the industry continues to stabilize post-pandemic. Considering savings seen during this time last year, it is likely that Black Friday 2024 will see savings of 22 percent, with discounts getting more aggressive when shopping in-store.”

That’s a different approach than CR recommends when shopping for other products this Black Friday. We’ve found that online shopping in most cases can save you money—and time, of course.

At any retailer, keep in mind that you may be able to get a better bargain by haggling, even on items that have been discounted for the holidays. In a member survey conducted by CR in 2024, 21 percent of major-appliance shoppers negotiated for a better price. Two-thirds of those who did succeeded, saving a median of $123.

Among the most successful negotiating tactics when shopping for a major appliance were purchasing multiple items at once (32 percent of successful hagglers) and mentioning prices offered by other retailers (26 percent). Other effective steps our members used were asking for a senior, veteran, or membership discount (20 percent) and mentioning deals through price comparison tools (16 percent). Another winning trick: Asking for a discount on a floor model (8 percent of those who successfully negotiated in a physical store).

Among hagglers who gained a discount, 19 percent used no special leverage; they just asked. And notably, online appliance shoppers were just as successful as their in-store counterparts at negotiating a discount, our member survey found, though few do it.

Even if you fail to chip away at the sale price, there are other ways to save on a large appliance, such as asking the retailer to waive fees for shipping or delivery. Many already offer this service and also include the free hauling away of your old appliance. Ask whether the retailer can waive installation fees, especially if you’re just replacing one appliance with another rather than undertaking an entire kitchen remodel.

Stores will often price match the competition to keep you from going elsewhere. But check the fine print of retailers’ policies for caveats. For instance, Best Buy says its price match pertains to most products purchased between Nov. 21 and Dec. 2. You can apply the price match, but only for prices offered by "qualified competitors" (like Amazon, Apple, B&H Photo Video, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and more).

Big-box stores also match the prices offered by your local warehouse club. The practice doesn’t always go the other way, though: Costco doesn’t price match.

Some retailers will honor their price-match guarantee for days or weeks from the date you bought your appliance. If you purchase something from one of them, check online prices from competitors and then contact the original vendor again for a rebate. Abt, which tops CR’s appliance store ratings, offers its price match for items purchased within the previous 30 days. Among other exclusions, Lowe’s only price matches qualifying items at the time of purchase, so you’ll need to know in advance what the competition is charging.