Over the past 4 years I have sold thousands of used appliances out of our garage in Portland Oregon. During that time I learned a number of things, but three things stood out: people want to buy used appliances without leaving home, they want to buy appliances from someone they trust, and they want a warranty.
With that in mind, Bobby Henderson and I set out to create a better way for people to buy used appliances, and today I want to introduce ApplianceSwap.com
ApplianceSwap focuses on 3 ways of making Appliance sales online easy and safe
1. Convenience. In 2015, you still cannot easily buy used appliances online. You can buy used cars on sites like Carvana and Beepi, but not appliances. People are busy and don’t want to spend hours hustling around town looking for a used appliance. And they shouldn’t have to.
Nearly all of my appliances sales were to people who didn’t see the machines in person before buying — they looked at my Craigslist listings, and trusted from the descriptions and photos that I was selling quality machines and that I’d back up my warranties.
Letting those customers stay home saved them hours of time. We want to allow everyone the convenience of purchasing used appliances from home.
2. Trust. People don’t know who they should trust when it’s time to buy a used appliance. Many dealers sell hundreds or thousands of appliances each year, but there is no good way of comparing one dealer against another.
We’re changing that by building a network of trusted dealers and soliciting reviews after sales have taken place, so that the customer can see who they’re dealing with, and see the experience previous customers had.
3. Accountability. Most used appliance sellers offer a warranty, but who backs it? Currently there is little consequence if a dealer acts badly. We’re creating a trusted marketplace where customers are protected from bad dealers.
How this all came about
I remember one day driving up to a nicely landscaped yard on a washing machine delivery. As we parked a sweet elderly lady greeted us in the front yard. We introduced ourselves and she led us to her laundry room where we started working on removing her old washer. While we were working, she told us this was the first time she had purchased an appliance on her own. Her husband, who she had been married to for over 55 years, had recently passed away. In that moment, I learned it’s possible to get emotional while installing a washing machine. I also realized people need an accurate review system so they know who they can trust. You shouldn’t have to hope you are making the right decision, you should know who you are dealing with.
I left that day talking the entire way back about how there needs to be a better system. That’s what we’ve set out to create with ApplianceSwap. We are assembling a network of amazing used appliance sellers, both from our ApplianceSchool and from existing dealers all across the country. They offer quality used appliances that you can buy from home. Every machine is delivered, set up by a professional, and comes with a warranty. Some sellers can deliver within 1-2 hours.
We already have about 20 dealers in our network, scattered across the US. If you’re in one of our areas, please check us out or recommend us to your friends or family. If we’re not in your area yet, please sign up under our coverage map where we’ll notify you when we arrive in your market. We would love your feedback!
Sometimes it helps to shrink big problems down and make them small. I think it’s because big problems can often seem insurmountable. We are trying to make a better way for someone like Mrs. Smith to buy used appliances, and just maybe we’ll end up making it easier for everyone else in the country too.
I hope this post finds you all well!
-Ryan
Frequently Asked Questions
(Have more questions? I’ll answer down in the comments and post common ones up here in the post.)
Do you still recommend that people buy appliances off of Craigslist?
If it’s from a knowledgeable appliance seller who has cleaned/refurbished the appliance, yes. From other consumers, I urge caution. Here’s why.
First, most people will need to be able to pick up the appliance themselves. This is great for people that have the strength and the transportation to pull it off, but for many people it’s not worth the hassle. If this is someone’s trade, they will be able to deliver and setup the appliance for you.
Second, from my experience, over 50% of appliances sold on Craigslist by consumers have some sort of problem or another. For example, almost all used dryers on Craigslist need to be cleaned and present a possible fire hazard if they haven’t been cleaned within the past few years. Other appliances often have subtle problems that inexperienced buyers will not notice until well after they have brought the appliance home.
Know the risk. Most appliance purchases from consumers on Craigslist do not come with a warranty. If you can afford to take a hit if something goes wrong, that’s awesome — there are some good deals to be had buying from other consumers. But just be wary when you are buying a machine that has not been cleaned and inspected by a professional, and when there is no warranty. Just make sure you know the difference between buying from an experienced appliance seller and a consumer.
What’s wrong with buying appliances from other consumers?
When consumers buy from other consumers, the experience has an unexpected negative surprise at least 50% of the time. It’s because most consumers don’t do maintenance on their appliances, or clean them on the inside like dryers. The % of consumers that clean and do maintenance on their dryer is probably less than 5%. That leaves a lot of 10-12 year old dryers that have should have been cleaned every few years but weren’t. Those dryers need to be serviced upon purchase in that case, which if people knew that they probably wouldn’t purchase the machine. A filthy dryer is a fire hazard, so people need to know to buy dryers that have been cleaned.
This just makes it very easy for people to purchase appliances that are partially broken, or at the very least currently need to be serviced. As that continues, people start associating all used appliance purchases as high risk, negative experiences. That’s bad for everyone, and that’s one of the things we are trying to address.
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Source: recraigslist