The question I get most
Is a scratch and dent appliance worth buying?
Short answer: usually, yes. A scratch and dent appliance is a brand new machine that picked up a cosmetic mark somewhere between the factory and the sales floor. It has never been used, never been in a home, and it carries the same one-year warranty on parts and labor as the full-price unit at a big-box store. The difference is the price: 30 to 50% off.
Here's what the mark actually is, most of the time. A forklift clips a corner in a warehouse. A strap leaves a crease on a side panel. A box shifts in a truck and dents the back. The manufacturer can't ship that unit to a big-box store at full price with a mark on it — so it comes to a store like mine instead. The machine inside is identical.
When is it not worth it? If the damage is on the face and you'll stare at it every day in an open kitchen — some people care, some don't. If the dent is deep enough to hit the drum or the coils — I don't sell those. And if a door seal or hinge took the hit — that's a repair, not a discount, and it doesn't go on my floor.
My standing advice: come look at the mark yourself. Bring your phone, pull up the big-box price for the same model number, and do the math standing in front of the machine. If the scratch is on the side that faces your wall, you're about to save a few hundred dollars on something nobody will ever see.
— Johnny, Johnny's Discount Warehouse, Mason City
Good one. If it makes the page, I'll credit you by first name.