The Cheapskate Challenge - with a cash prize!

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
As some of you might know, I am renovating my house right now, and am currently looking for appliances. The one I have my eye on is here:

Kenmore Elite 6.1 cu. ft. Freestanding Induction Range w/ True Convection - Stainless Steel


Oven.PNG

The list price on Kenmore.com is $1699, but we can do better than that right? I'd like to hear your thoughts on how you would reduce the final price using stacked methods.

Details:

  • I can have up to a 2% cashback credit card (Fid Amex) , paying with that would create a rebate of $34.... what else would you do to rebate that price down?
  • I will accept anything that is considered a rebate or reduction, including third party points. If it generates points we will value them the same as in milemadness and sum up the total savings.
  • I can't use ShopDiscover as I don't have a card there, so would appreciate avoiding that one. I do have the Freedom card.
Prize

The person who drops the price the most will win a prize of $100 - I am going to run the competition until Friday at 6pm Eastern, to enter, just leave a comment below with the steps to produce the price. In order to be the winner I must be able to reproduce the steps and get to the same price ( I will take whatever it gives me, so if it does go up a bit we will use that price).

I already have a few tips and tricks to drop the price, but want to hear from you guys as to what you would do. Anyone up for the challenge?

EDIT- Please give me your final price in your answer!
 
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ElainePDX

Level 2 Member
I won't be searching for the best price online for your range and since it is a Sears model, the following might not work, but I am posting here just to add to the general knowledge base on buying appliances. Feel free to delete if you want.

We routinely find the best price online, print out what we've found, and then see if HomeDepot, Lowe's, and/or other local appliance stores will match or beat it. I have always had success and with our last purchase - a high end dishwasher - Home Depot beat the best price I found and then added on their current 10% off all appliances sale as well as an additional 5% on dishwashers. I saved several hundred dollars and then used a card that doubled the warranty.

When we remodeled our kitchen years ago, we shopped at contractor-only outlets for discontinued models and got some great deals on "last year's" model which they then held for us until the kitchen was ready months later.

Good luck!
 

hdawg

Level 2 Member
I assume you chose sears due to a high amount of Gift cards with them. Best I could find is Go through FatWallet for 6% CB and use promo code SEARS50 for $50 and free shipping, also if you are not using gift cards use your freedom for an effective 5-5.5% UR/CB
 

Alpen_Geoff

Level 2 Member
Buy $1550 in Sears giftcards at Safeway on OBC for 5% CB ($77.50) as well as double fuel points (3100 fuel points). There are a few 10% off coupons I found online so that drops the price to ~$1530. Then pick your portal to redeem said giftcards through, preferably waiting for a bonus and use your resellers sales tax exemption to keep that off.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
I assume you chose sears due to a high amount of Gift cards with them. Best I could find is Go through FatWallet for 6% CB and use promo code SEARS50 for $50 and free shipping, also if you are not using gift cards use your freedom for an effective 5-5.5% UR/CB
I have no gift cards. I'd like the answer to include: Go here to buy giftcards.

The bigger point here is to show people how to 'find a deal' on something.
 

thepaul500

Level 2 Member
Is the like new/reconditioned model out of the question? 799.93 if you pickup in OH...or 1008 delivered.

http://www.searsoutlet.com/6-1-cu-ft-Freestanding-Induction-Range-w-True-Convection-Stainless-Steel/d/product_details.jsp?pid=116101

Get 10% back through shopdiscover buying sears gift cards, then 5% back using those through UPromise (Sears Outlet)....~150 cash back on the delivered version, out of pocket 850.

I can't confirm all of these work that way, but it would be where I started my research.

Edit:I see while I was typing that I was beaten to the punch...
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Is the like new/reconditioned model out of the question? 799.93 if you pickup in OH...or 1008 delivered.

http://www.searsoutlet.com/6-1-cu-ft-Freestanding-Induction-Range-w-True-Convection-Stainless-Steel/d/product_details.jsp?pid=116101

Get 10% back through shopdiscover buying sears gift cards, then 5% back using those through UPromise (Sears Outlet)....~150 cash back on the delivered version, out of pocket 850.

I can't confirm all of these work that way, but it would be where I started my research.

Edit:I see while I was typing that I was beaten to the punch...
You were beaten to the punch on the sears outlet, but your price is different because the other answer said 'go here and buy it and didn't factor in the gift card options you had.

Note I don't have shopdiscover per the OP.
 

thepaul500

Level 2 Member
You were beaten to the punch on the sears outlet, but your price is different because the other answer said 'go here and buy it and didn't factor in the gift card options you had.

Note I don't have shopdiscover per the OP.
I was expected to read that much? Totally not worth 100 prize.... (kidding!)
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
I was expected to read that much? Totally not worth 100 prize.... (kidding!)
You haven't won yet :)

Besides, yours is (like new), which is a fair solution, but it isn't the same as the model I showed as being new.
 
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Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Thread Update -

The reconditioned option is good - but let's focus on a New, like for like model.
 

raenye

Lever 2 Membel
Visit Sears and Kmart in person and use SYWR app to check-in and get coupons (most of which you could use online too, valid only for the same day).
EDIT: probably nothing beats SEARS50 for $50 off $300.

Now buy GCs with a Freedom (5x UR), via a 6.6% portal (UPromise 6%, and extra 10% if you open a Sallie Mae savings account until 12/31) and then go through the portal again to use GCs.

EDIT2: don't forget to check if you have surprise points (I just found I have $20 off $20 until Nov 24...)
 
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Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Folks - if you want to win the money, can you enter your final price in the post please, that will allow me to narrow down and then try it out.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Visit Sears and Kmart in person and use SYWR app to check-in and get coupons (most of which you could use online too, valid only for the same day).
EDIT: probably nothing beats SEARS50 for $50 off $300.

Now buy GCs with a Freedom (5x UR), via a 6.6% portal (UPromise 6%, and extra 10% if you open a Sallie Mae savings account until 12/31) and then go through the portal again to use GCs.
Good ideas- worth noting that the 'Like New' model discussed earlier discounts from $1999 to $1200 (plus shipping) whereas the New product discounts to $1699 (free shipping) with tax it is $1730. The Freedom is a good card to use here, but does cap out at $1500, since we are looking at GCs it might be wise to buy $1500 and then the balance with something else.

I do have a better option for GCs than this though :)
 

Haley

I am not a robot
Buy Sears Gift Cards, find best price on Giftcard Granny, with a 2% anywhere CB card. Monstergiftcard.com has $500 cards for $457.50 each
Plus your 2% (or 2.2 if you have the psudoCB card)
So another $9.50 back on each $500 card.
X3 gives you $1500 in GC for $1345.05
Another $200 GC costs $184 (8% since there is a limited supply of 8.5% GC's avaliable)

Use Portal, check cashbackholic for current best offer, I'm seeing 7% back (on full price paid, this is one of the places my math goes off track) and go through shop your way to get the 1% back in points. -$133

Total is $1396.05

I'm sure someone can do better.

My math is almost always wrong...

1) checkGiftcardgranny-> find best price on GC -> buy w/ 2% everywhere card
2) checkCashbackholic ->best portal for purchases -> buy w/ GC from step 1
2.1) Also check cashbackmonitor.com for portals.

3x AA or SWA miles, I have so many AA miles I ignore that option these days. Have no idea what the milemadness values were, but value depends on what you need.
 
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KennyBSAT

Moderator
Staff member
I was checking out giftcardgranny and came back to see @Haley beat me to it. But leave that 2% card in your wallet and buy VGC at the drug or grocery store with OBC to use at the gift card co. Or wait until next week when AMEX gift cards are fee free at CVS to get the full 5% rather than 4.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Not bad, but the final answer (I expect them to get better as we proceed since we are refining) certainly has 1 or more additional bonuses.

I guess a big area to look at is the lowest acquisition price of GC.
 

Haley

I am not a robot
You didn't rule out, open a new card and use this $1xxx towards min spending.

You can add a few $100 that way.

Kenny is right about starting with 5% card to buy V/M/AmExGC for purchase. I'm rusty, I haven't bought anything sizable in awhile.
 

KennyBSAT

Moderator
Staff member
Then there might be fuel rewards and stuff, but those have never been an option for me so I'm not sure how much that would save.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
You didn't rule out, open a new card and use this $1xxx towards min spending.

You can add a few $100 that way.

Kenny is right about starting with 5% card to buy V/M/AmExGC for purchase. I'm rusty, I haven't bought anything sizable in awhile.
Nah new cards don't count- I can burn any min spend without this.
 

Maria Sangria

Level 51
Haven't looked at all of the options here, but I replaced my kitchen appliances last year. Did you look at manufacturer rebates? They put them out every so often. I think it was January/February time frame when they had big ones. The more pieces you buy, the bigger the rebate.
 

raenye

Lever 2 Membel
OK, let's get more convoluted.

Buy Staples GC (6.05%) at giftcards.com with your best card (2% or grocery store VGCs obtained for ~4%);
Buy ebay GCs in Staples and collect 2% Staples rewards;
Go via BeFrugal (1.5%) to ebay and buy full price sears GC and collect 2% ebay bucks;
Continue as before (6.6% UPromise+Savings, coupon code)

(spend $1550 for $1650 Staples GCs, get ~$200 back from (2+1.5+2+6.6)% and ~$80 from the VGC -- total is around $1280)

EDIT: 1% SYWR points are worth $16.5, but you get these anyhow.
 
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Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Free -

Add 113 Authorized Users to your Amex cards and then redeem for the Amazon $15 off $15 buying sears cards

Your welcome :)
Here's that interesting conundrum though- opportunity cost. I could do that anyway right?
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
OK, let's get more convoluted.

Buy Staples GC (6.05%) at giftcards.com with your best card (2% or grocery store VGCs obtained for ~4%);
Buy ebay GCs in Staples and collect 2% Staples rewards;
Go via BeFrugal (1.5%) to ebay and buy full price sears GC and collect 2% ebay bucks;
Continue as before (6.6% UPromise+Savings, coupon code)

(spend $1550 for $1650 Staples GCs, get ~$200 back from (2+1.5+2+6.6)% and ~$80 from the VGC -- total is around $1280)
Nice- two things to challenge:

The 4% isn't truly 4% because MO are infinite. Perhaps you could make an argument for avoiding liquidation fees.

Buying GCs from eBay introduces risk I feel more so than from other sites. But I think buyer protection would prevail, it's an iffy one but I like it...
 

raenye

Lever 2 Membel
The 4% isn't truly 4% because MO are infinite. Perhaps you could make an argument for avoiding liquidation fees.
Not sure what you mean here. I'm not saying "buy VGCs and liquidate until you got enough cashback to buy stuff". I'm suggesting to buy 3 VGCs for $505.95 each, and use them to pay at giftcards.com.
Buying GCs from eBay introduces risk I feel more so than from other sites. But I think buyer protection would prevail, it's an iffy one but I like it...
It's full price digital gift cards, directly from Paypal. No ebay risk (assuming you trust paypal...)
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Not sure what you mean here. I'm not saying "buy VGCs and liquidate until you got enough cashback to buy stuff". I'm suggesting to buy 3 VGCs for $505.95 each, and use them to pay at giftcards.com.
For the former, I am simply wondering whether that is truly the savings you say it is, because all we are using giftcards.com for is liquidation - as such the 'edge' isn't 4% but the liquidation cost, which would be about $1.40 at WM.

It's full price digital gift cards, directly from Paypal. No ebay risk (assuming you trust paypal...)
I didn't know that - pretty cool!
 

raenye

Lever 2 Membel
For the former, I am simply wondering whether that is truly the savings you say it is, because all we are using giftcards.com for is liquidation - as such the 'edge' isn't 4% but the liquidation cost, which would be about $1.40 at WM.
Again, I'm not sure I follow. VGCs are not being liquidated (i.e., transformed back to money) but used to purchase.
If your argument is "but I can liquidate these cheaply" then that's true, but it's an unrelated negative-cost gig that can be repeated as long as supported by your CL, your MO depository and your willingness to go to WM.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Again, I'm not sure I follow. VGCs are not being liquidated (i.e., transformed back to money) but used to purchase.
If your argument is "but I can liquidate these cheaply" then that's true, but it's an unrelated negative-cost gig that can be repeated as long as supported by your CL, your MO depository and your willingness to go to WM.
I'm sorry if I am not explaining it well, it is a concept on my mind that I had hoped to raise in this thread.

Let's do a scenario:

Person A buys $5000 in VGC and liquidates them, total cost to exit $7 he then uses a 2% card to go through the steps you outline.
Person B buys $5000 in VGC and liquidates $3500 of them, total cost to exit $5.60 hr then uses the remaining 3 cards to go through the steps you outline.

I'm saying the edge is $1.40, because I don't see it being viable (to someone like me who has a WM but perhaps if one does not..) to assume that I wouldn't be buying the max amount of VGC all the time anyway.

We hit opportunity cost land here.
 

raenye

Lever 2 Membel
We hit opportunity cost land here.
But how far would you go?
Freedom's $1,500 at 5% is probably already liquidated. You could say that since buying grocery store VGCs with a 2% card is profitable, you've already maximized your CL on all these. And since buying Simons VGCs is slightly profitable even with a 1% card, these are also max'ed out.
 

Haley

I am not a robot
Wait, what max?
CL, # of bank accounts, # of places to buy MO's, # of places to buy VGC's, hours in a day?
 

raenye

Lever 2 Membel
Depending on your bottlenecks; for me I guess it'd be CL (as in, how much I'm willing to cycle).

I guess that the conclusion here is that buying the oven is less profitable than MS, so Matt shouldn't do that :p
 

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
It's a regional opportunity, but Thornton's is offering Sears gift cards at 20% off through the month of November. Twenty percent off face value is tough to beat.
 

Haley

I am not a robot
Matt isn't this mixing micro/macro issues.

When I think about best deal for real spend I do not consider any MS profit if I'd be getting it anyhow. If it increases my ability to liquidate then extra band width is fair game to 'count' as savings.

My bandwidth is limited by my willingness to go to WM these days.

My other MO place quit playing nice. Sad sad sad.
 

Haley

I am not a robot
It's a regional opportunity, but Thornton's is offering Sears gift cards at 20% off through the month of November. Twenty percent off face value is tough to beat.
Our local grocery store had that deal a few months ago. It was a very nice one.
 
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