The Best Inexpensive Dryers

Websites for Inexpensive Dryers

• Websites like Nextag and other consolidator sites are perfectly happy to take care of your appliance price comparisons, so let them do their thing. In August 2011, the same model G.E. electric dryer, available at seven stores, was priced between $315 and $450. The difference of $135 can get you a marked-down garbage disposal, too, so if you already know the company you prefer and the model you desire, use these resources to nail a sale.

Stores for Inexpensive Dryers

• If it seems like every major department store has a warehouse store, too, you're not far off. Perhaps you have a Sears Outlet, a General Electric Outlet Store or LG liquidator in your neck of the woods or a regional warehouse like Plass Electronics in the Chicago suburbs. These outlets stock and sell refurbished, dented and out-of-stock singles that work equally as efficiently as their pricier relatives. Unless you are purist when it comes to dents and scratches, there are deals to be had plus favorable return and warranty programs, so your search for an inexpensive dryer could end here.

Times to Find Inexpensive Dryers

• The Bible says that "to all things, there is a season," but since you're not as concerned about living and dying as you are about washing and drying at the moment, shop on bank holidays, when SmartMoney.com says deals on appliances are bountiful. The original revelation came from Carolyn Forte, a Good Housekeeping Institute home care director, who confided to editors of Smart Money that "retailers bring out the big guns for holiday weekends." If you can hold off on making your purchase, make dryer shopping part of your Labor Day or Fourth of July plans.

Deals For Inexpensive Dryers

• New appliance models appear as if by magic in the fall. That's when department managers at Best Buy, Lowe's and other national chains must get "old" dryers off the floor so there's room for the newer, prettier dryers with more features. Look upon this season as your chance to take a still-new dryer off their hands. Since cash is king throughout the year, negotiate the price and then sweeten the deal by offering to write a check, hand over a debit card or roll out the bills. Your chances of getting a top-of-the-line dryer with more features than you imagined are high, so barring a bad review from "Consumer Reports," you may wind up with a dryer that exceeds the expectations you had when you began your search.