Currys shopper reveals how they bagged ‘absolute bargain’ Dyson fan for £19 instead of £450 with clever hack
A CURRYS shopper has revealed how they bagged an “absolute bargain” Dyson gadget worth £450 for £19 with a clever hack.
The high street retailer is known for selling everything from washing machines, laptops, TVs and game consoles.
One shopper managed to bag a Dyson cool purifying fan for £18.97 instead of £449 – £403.03 less than the original price.
Posting in the Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK Facebook group, they shared a picture of the receipt and wrote: “Lucky to be at the right place, right time.
“No stock left in store but they were kind enough to sell us the display with 90% use left on the filter and a two year warranty – for full price.
“After checking and using the serial number, it was sold to us for £18.97 as this was was one of their previous models.”
The gadget distributes pure air evenly throughout the room and also has a fan function.
We couldn’t find this exact model for sale online at Currys anymore, but we did find it for sale on Amazon for a whopping £449.
The Sun also found a similar model for sale through the official Dyson website for £299.99 reduced from £399.99.
Both of these are significantly more expensive than the deal the shopper managed to bag.
Ex-display items are often sold at a discounted price but they should still be in excellent condition.
It might be that they were on display in the store window or used at showrooms.
They also may be cheaper because there may be no seller guarantee – so it’s always worth checking this before you buy.
Lysa Campbell, a shopping expert and chief operating officer of Sook.com which offers pop-up spaces for retailers, previously told The Sun that it’s up to the shoppers to hunt down ex-display prices as they won’t always be obvious.
She said an ex-display model won’t be available to purchase until the very last of the warehouse stock has been sold – therefore it’s often a matter of luck and timing.
She said: “Staff in store should be on hand to point consumers in the right direction if there is any ex-display items available.
“But they tend to get snapped up fairly quickly. It’s best to ask for ex-demo or ex-display items that may now be reduced.”
Of course, each store will have its own policy but it’s always worth checking with staff incase you can bag a bargain.
Some retailers may also offer ex-display items on their websites.
You could also attend clearance sales or events, which are often held by retailers or manufacturers looking to clear out their inventory.
Top Tips To Nab The Best Shopping Bargains
Finding deals and offers can be tricky if you don't know where to look.
Here’s a list of hacks you can use to become a bargain-hunting pro and save on your shopping bill:
Join Facebook groups – Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK, Latest Deals and Reduce Your Supermarket Spend are all Facebook groups helping you reduce your spending and find good deals
Get following – Follow your favourite shops on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and sign up to its newsletters to get the latest on any offers
Check hotukdeals – The deal-sharing website lists offers as they’re spotted by savvy shoppers
Use barcode scanners – Retailers such as B&M let shoppers scan the barcodes on its app to see if it’s cheaper than the price listed on the shelf
How else can I cut costs?
While sometimes high costs are unavoidable, there are ways shoppers can reduce spending.
For example, buying out of season is a great way to get discounts.
So buying summer clothes in winter and vice versa can get you some great deals.
Try planning what you’re after around big sales such as Cyber Monday or Black Friday can also cut costs.
If you plan ahead and know exactly what you want then it’ll make things easier.
Setting yourself a budget can also help.
Instead of splurging in something, be strict with what you can realistically spend and make sure you don’t go over that.
Always shop around for the best deal as you might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere.
Sign up to retailer’s newsletters as they’ll often offer discounts for subscribers.
How to compare prices to get the best deal
JUST because something is on offer, or is part of a sale, it doesn't mean it's always a good deal.
There are plenty of comparison websites out there that’ll check prices for you – so don’t be left paying more than you have to.
Most of them work by comparing the prices across hundreds of retailers.
Here are some that we recommend:
- Google Shopping is a tool that lets users search for and compare prices for products across the web. Simply type in keywords, or a product number, to bring up search results.
- Price Spy logs the history of how much something costs from over 3,000 different retailers, including Argos, Amazon, eBay and the supermarkets. Once you select an individual product you can quickly compare which stores have the best price and which have it in stock.
- Idealo is another website that lets you compare prices between retailers. All shoppers need to do is search for the item they need and the website will rank them from the cheapest to the most expensive one.
- CamelCamelCamel only works on goods being sold on Amazon. To use it, type in the URL of the product you want to check the price of.