Good value Supplier in NZ for white goods and furniture??

[UktoKiwi]

Can anyone help?

Our family are Moving to NZ around Easter 2006.
Probably settling in Auckland area but just a chance we might change to Christchurch.
Does anyone know a good www site or supplier/shop, preferably discount or good value, for kitchen white goods?
Washing machines
Fridges
Cookers
Etc..

Came across Hill & Stewart online but goods seem really expensive such as washing machines.

Also anything good for modern simple furniture?
Any sort of Ikea place in NZ??

Warehouse looks good value for a variety of items such as electronics, garden items and general house items but does not seem to have, at least online, the stuff I am enquiring about above.

Thank you

Happy Xmas and a really Good 2006 to all.

[Soon2baKiwi]

Hi. If you're in Auckland there is The Appliance Shed in Wairau Park. They've got appliances with damage to boxes etc. and are quite reasonable. Having said that, if you look at the shops on Trade Me there is one called TJs and I bought my Fridge Freezer from there. Stainless Steel for $1100 - it's a Lambrook which is an Australian brand. It's not the biggest you could get but all we could fit in the space for it in the kitchen. www.noelleeming.co.nz is good when they've got specials on. Don't panic, there's lots of places that are not so expensive. Good luck with the planning.

[bob_the_engineer]

Hi UktoKiwi,

My advice is don’t go and buy anything!
We rented a washer and a dryer ( don’t know why we rented a dryer, never used it). Anyway we rented these until our container arrives, they really are cheap to rent.

The reason that I say don’t buy anything is because I’ve found NZ to be a bit of a bargain hunters paradise. I’ve seen the same item in one shop priced at around half that of another shop.

So my advice is get here, get your walking boots on and hit ALL the shops before you buy anything, rent for now to give yourself a bit of room, you can rent on short term, we only rented for 6 weeks and the company was glad of the business.

The other thing is the NZ’ers seem to love getting a good deal, but they expect quality too. Ask the people in the shop if they have anything “on special” and if you need several bits of furniture/appliances ask for a price for the lot.

I’ve found the people here to be absolutely brilliant, so friendly, I’ve spent ages just chatting with the shop assistants and on more than one occasion been told “don’t buy it here try jobloggs” (this was of course said quietly so the boss didn’t hear )

We shipped loads of stuff, it will be good to have familiar things but quite honestly knowing what I know now I would have left much more furniture behind.

Anyway a few prices I’ve seen/things we’ve bought.


Fridge freezer (around 5.5ft tall) for £280

Top loading washer (I think they are better than front loaders) around £200

Garden bench-table £1200 ok so we didn’t buy this one but boy it was cool, the thing was hand carved and varnished. Honestly the tabletop was around 12 inches thick (30cm). It was a one-piece affair that you could sit a minimum of 8 people round, absolutely beautiful, you may need a crane to move it though!
Sadly the budget only stretched to a glass top table, 4 chairs and an umbrella for around £100 instead.

£800 will get you a top of the range reclining electric massaging chair, I’ve never seen one like this before, yes I’ve seen them in the UK but not like this. (any Homer Simpson types would sell the house to get one of these)

£120 will get you a 3 seat sofa bed, the type that fold back to front, not those awful things that fold onto the floor.

It was either £26 or £32 for a bookcase (not sure which), 5 ft tall 5 shelves. This was made from mdf, nice shape but needs painting. On the upside you don’t have to assemble it and it is quite sturdy.

On that subject, paint can be relatively expensive, the thing to bear in mind here is the outside of houses are painted in NZ so expensive, good quality and very long lasting paints are common here. Shop around and you will find cheaper poorer quality paints that we are used to in the UK. (hay if your going to paint your bookcase you don’t want to paint it with something that will stand 10 years+ of NZ’s very hot sunshine)

Overall what I’d really like to say is don’t worry too much about the price of things here, it really isn’t that expensive, shop around (lots and lots) and if you get stuck the Kiwis are remarkably kind, your neighbour probably wont think twice about loaning you anything you need.

Bob

[UktoKiwi]

Thanks soon2bakiwi and Bob.
Bob your reply was really useful and very interesting and I hope will be so for other people. I have read other threads where people are complaining at the extortionate price of many things in NZ but maybe they just do not shop around. With a young family we would not dream of buying expensive furnishings etc. Whats the point. Same with fittings in a house and carpets, curtains and bedding. Cheap, practical and cheerful will do. I am often amazed at people who spend £50 to £100 per Square metre on carpets, or thousands on a suite. I do not want to live with the same suite or carpet for 10 or 20 years. It is nice to have a change. I think the warehouse in NZ will be a favourite of ours. Anyway enough of my waffling.
We are still considering what we pack to send. We are trying not to bring almost any furniture or large cumbersome items.
Only thing we are really unsure about is our leather suite (large 2 seater and large single seat) + a couple of antique upright chairs.
We need to make the decision soon.

[veronica]

If the stuff you have is still ok then I would advise you to bring it. there are bargains to be had here but it takes time to search for them, and its a lot when you have to replace everything in one hit. I would think hard about getting rid of stuff in the UK just to replace them here.

[bob_the_engineer]

Hi UktoKiwi,

As far as the leather furniture goes, I like leather furniture, but wifey really doesn’t. I guess she’s the boss since we’ve never bought any

I did have a look at leather sofas a few weeks ago and my impression was that they were quite expensive, but I would have been comparing them with other sofas in the shops.

I will try to pop into a furniture shop over the weekend, while I’m out wondering, and get a couple of prices.

I have a pile of junk mail with prices in so I’ll start a thread with a few examples, and if anyone wants a “price from the junk” I’ll have a quick look.

Good Luck with the move Bob

[UktoKiwi]

Thanks Bob - appreciate it.
We like leather as we think it is better for not getting itchy with insects and bugs. Am I making sense. In material or soft furnishings I presume a suite or chair becomes like a mattress with lots of bugs in. And we just feel that leather is not so penetrable and therefore healthier. Also easier to clean when it gets dirty.

[bob_the_engineer]

Hi UktoKiwi,

More junk mail turned up, this time it had lots of leather sofas in it. I’ve tried to put the range of prices from 2 different shops, hope it’s useful.

From big save furniture in Hastings

Maddison: 3 seat sofa (2 seats reclining) and 2 reclining armchairs £1600
Meridian: 3 seat sofa (2 seats reclining) and 2 reclining armchairs £1199
Locano: 3 seat sofa and 2 reclining armchairs £799
Leatherworld (Sindy) 3 seat sofa + 2 seat sofa £1199
Leatherworld (bahama) 3 seat sofa + 2 seat sofa £1120
Leatherworld (quantum) 3 seat sofa + 2 seat sofa £799

From redpaths

Parnell Corner suite (big seats around 7) £1120
Matching large ottoman £400
Cherrywood 3 seat sofa and 2 reclining armchairs £1320
Karen 3 seat sofa and 2 reclining armchairs £1120
Rosa 3 seat sofa and 2 reclining armchairs £1120
Kelly 3 seat sofa + 2 seat sofa £999
Box 3 seat sofa + 2 seat sofa £679

One other thing, you mentioned antiques, I haven’t really seen much in the way of antiques.

Best wishes Bob