Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Appliance Shopping


We finally bought one of the major appliances we need--a fridge (or as called here, a ref). It will not be delivered until this weekend but I am already loving it.

I never knew Sharp made fridges (I do not think they have a refrigerator line in the states) but I loved the idea of a freezer on the bottom combined with no center panel in the top. I also am loving the fact that the drawers for the freezer are plastic versus the wire baskets that are so common in the states.

We ended up buying our appliances at one store. Shopping for appliances is a process when it comes to pricing. There really is no last price--you can keep going. We got this fridge for P15,000 (about $350) below the marked price. The marked price is just the starting point. We also got a free blender and hairdryer as well. Catch? This is the cash price. We never carry lots of cash, so for us it meant a check which in the Philippines means three days clearing. No big deal for us.

Lest you think the fridge is too big, the tropical air kills food really quickly so items that are not normally refrigerated or frozen are here (i.e., bread, 72oz bags of chocolate chips from Costco).

(Sorry for the cruddy pic--I grabbed it from the Sharp website so the resolution is lacking)

34 comments:

Watergirl said...

That's a lovely ref (how very pinoy of you)! Ready to stuff with stuff from S&R and the bread from Mickey's. By the way, I recall you had trouble finding good cheese here some time ago, have you visited Rustan's Supermarkets lately? I was pleased to find a larger cheese selection (and I'm not talking Magnolia cheddar), at relatively reasonable prices.

A good friend of mine who has friends who import wines and cheeses from Europe also keep us updated on when she finds good deals. She recently sent us information on spanish cheeses (manchego, curado/semicurado) on sale at 50%. You can get a whole bezonking wheel of cheese for P800!

Unknown said...

That fridge is AMAZING! My dream ref! Love it!

Katie said...

What a great idea: separate compartments in the freezer too.

kikas_head said...

I actually haven't been to Rustan's in a long time--I stopped going when the buyout with Shopwise happened (only because they were closed for so long I broke the habit). I will go back. Luckily since we just got back from the states I have brought reserves. Does your friend have a store?

Kat-the best thing about the seperate drawers for the freezer is since the ice cubes have their own drawer, they will not take on the flavors of everything else (i.e., fish--I hate fish flavored ice cubes)!!

Watergirl said...

Hi, if you're interested in the cheeses, call up Garcia Baquero/oriental merchants at 568-5777, tell them you're interested in ordering the manchego/curado/semi-curado cheeses on sale.

Akilez said...
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Andrew's Daddies said...

Hi There,
I just purchased a home in Antipolo City. I need some help on where I could purchase appliances for my home (ref, stove, washer and dryer, dishwasher)..any suggestions?..Our home should be done in Nov, and we are flying there in dec for a 3 week vacation. I have limited time to buy all this stuff. Are you learning tagalog?...or have do you speak tagalog fluently?..I have taken some courses and a local college here as well as took an online course through Rosettastone...

kikas_head said...

At least you are coming at a good time--during the holiday season you can find some good savings.

Shopping for appliances here is a lot more arduous than in the states--you have to go store to store to compare. Each store will give you a different price and the marked price is not the final price. Also note that you can get a lower price often if you do not take the "free" item (i.e., we bought a TV and there was a free 19" that came with it. By not taking the "free" TV, we saved P5,000).

We ended up buying our oven and range at Automatic Center (Elba brand), fridge and television at Western (Sharp and Samsung), washing machine at Worldwide (Whirlpool--this store you can kinda ignore the store as it is a single store in Binondo..we also bought all our aircon units (Panasonic & Kolin there). We were weird with the washing machine and bought a US assembled one because we like the large, hard core washers). I have no idea if any of these brands are any good--I had never heard of any of the brands of ovens.

Other appliance stores are Abensons and SM Appliance. We did not buy anything at SM because we could not get good information from their staff and Abensons did not give us the best price.

You likely do not want to buy a dishwasher. The salary you will pay a house helper will be a fraction of what a dishwasher costs.

All of these stores can be found in just about any mall. We did most of our shopping at the branches in Greenhills. If you are trying to hit a bunch in one shot, go to SM Megamall (although likely the SM in Antipolo has most of them also--I am not to familiar with that area). Also, any one store will carry all the items you want; for us price was a factor, hence our shopping around. Final note, you will likely get slightly better prices if your partner does most of the talking.

My Tagalog sucks. After being here for two years, I know about 200-300 words and I cannot conjugate a sentence to save my life. That being said, I stink at languages in general and if you have the classes and the Rosetta Stone already, you will probably pick up the rest in no time. Contrary to popular belief, knowing Tagalog is very important here. Although 90% of the people you will come into contact with will speak conversational English, it is always hard at parties and group functions when if you don't know Tagalog, you are left on the sidelines a little bit. I guess what I am trying to say, although you do not HAVE to know Tagalog, you will WANT to know Tagalog.

PS - I looked at your blog...your son is cute little bugger!!! I loved the baptismal outfit!!

Andrew's Daddies said...

Thanks for all the helpful information. I can't wait to get there in Dec 08 and start the shopping process.
Are you there with a spouse?..are you working in the philippines or retired?

kikas_head said...

Yap, I am here with my partner (she is originally from here).

Sadly, although I am not yet 30, I am somewhat retired because foreigners are not allowed to work here unless they have some special skill (damn that liberal arts degree!! I should have studied chemical engineering instead).

I help with the family business but I really miss "working". Now that we have moved I am looking more seriously into volunteer work so I can contribute something to society.

Romesez said...

Good grief, an American guiding a filipino in buying appliances in the philippines...he he he. Anyways, that's how I came accross your blog, by merely typing home appliances in the philippines. So where did you buy your home appliances? Which is the best and most reasonable grocery store in your area? and by the way where do you live, area-wise. God bless, at maligayang buhay po sa inyo at Mabuhay kayo.

nikichan said...

that's a really nice fridge! mind sharing where you bought it? am goin to shop for appliances and furnitures for my new home. it'll be great to see all the options. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

i guess i'm late with my posting. just browsing for the sale this week for S&R and found your blog. i have the same ref and when i saw it the first time at abensons, i knew it was the one for me. i've worked in food industry for quite some time and i'm very particular with "chicken contaminating my other food stuff" so this is prefect. chicken in the lowest compartment for food safety reasons. i'm sure you're happy with your ref.

Anonymous said...

the Abenson's at ORTIGAS HOME DEPOT has a lot of choices in terms of appliances. it's bigger so more stuff on display and from different makers as well. the people are so friendly and helpful, and i was able to get discount pa kasi i bought a lot from them. it's located along Julia Vargas Ave corner Ortigas (that's where i bought my SHARP ref), 2F. there are imported brands with the same concept but with super higher price and my family has been using Sharp appliances for along time na, matibay gamit nila. for oven, i bought la germania (daming choices). oh, my washing machine is from Sharp also as well as my tv. i don't work for SHARP, it just so happen that when i was growing up marami kaming appliances from the said company so when my husband and i built our house last year, di na ako nagdalawang isip to buy most of our appliances from Sharp, and the best decision that i made is buying my " dream ref". a cookshow even used my kitchen for some of their shows and some bloggers commented on the "ref", and not on the food, funny.

well, there are other stores where you can buy your furniture and appliances but check out Ortigas Home Depot, you'll save a lot of time,and there's even DAMPA just a few meters away...you do the marketing and the restaurant of your choice will do the cooking he he

Anonymous said...

hi, i like your fridge nice choice. Anyways I just wanna ask if how did you ship your outdoor grill? would you mind to give me the details because I wanna know if it is cost worthy to just get it here (usa) than to buy it there(pi)hoping to hear from you soon. thanks alot.God bless. please send your answer to my email if you can clinik2004@yahoo.com, again thanks alot.

Anonymous said...

hi it's me again, would you mind if i ask you if where did you purchase your fridge & how much? because i checked western appliance center it costed Php99,000, at SM appliance center it's Php92,000 so I was wondering if you made a mistake with price that you posted here in your blog. Kindly email me the answer, clinik2004@yahoo.com, will look forward on your email soon. thanks alot & God bless

kikas_head said...

We bought our fridge at Western. We paid cash price and bargained the heck out of it. Maybe the prices are higher due to Christmas season? Christmas=OFW's=Remittances=Can Charge Almost Anything?


We shipped our grill at the same time we shipped all our items and since we are from San Francisco, there are a lot of shipping companies. If you do buy one there, make sure it is LPG and not natural gas. It worked for us because we bought the grill at a sale (got it for over half off) and since we were shipping so much, we got a great deal.

Sofia Rauf said...

Hello
You have good looking and latest one. Recently I bought a PEL Refrigerator.

RFA52P said...

I’ve learned a lot from your blog here, Keep on going, my friend, I will keep an eye on it,

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences for online shopping. Now, I have a clue on how to take the full advantage of making purchases online. Now, Im worried about the shipping fees :O

Unknown said...

Hi, I liked your post coz it has great info. Thanks for the post. Usually i go for the best and cheap in price appliances for my home. Last time i shop at jcpenney on my friends suggestion for my micro woven using jcpenney coupons where i found that they are providing great deals for the customers.

James Abram said...

You can also buy home appliances from Sharp Philippines.

Dianne said...

Congrats for you new fridge, May I know the best brands of a refrigerator? Thanks

darren rowse said...
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MyAppliances Discount Codes said...

The features of the refrigerator are terrific. No wonder why you look so excited for it to arrive.

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