Things like washing machines, fridges, higher end (or mid range) vacuums, or other things you’d feel pretty bummed about dropping a bit of money on just for it to turn out being shit
I’m considering subscribing some time next year before I make some bigger purchases after tax time. I’m always morbidly worried about either buying something that does its job poorly, or just isn’t good value for the feature set.
From the couple of reviews/rankings I’ve seen, they seem to be a lot more scientific than random “what is the best x lists”. I feel like when you google reviews for any midrange products, most of the reviews are just “oh well yeah it’s okay but actually nah if you spend three times the price you could get 5% better performance so it’s actually bad and you shouldn’t buy it. Just buy the more expensive version instead!”
The minimum 3 month subscription term is the only thing that’s making me pause. If they offered single month subscriptions, I’d probably be more inclined to subscribe. But I’m interested in hearing opinions from anyone who either is a member, or has been in the past. Worth it?
If you belong to a library I would try there first if you just need one or two issues.
Apparently my current library doesn’t offer it, but my last one does, and I’m still a member. I’ve also heard that apparently in Victoria, you no longer need to just be a member of your local library and can now become a member of any Victorian library as long as you live in Vic. Not sure if that’s true, but could be worth a comparison
I’m a bit confused by Choice’s system, though. They have a product reviews section on their website which is what I’m interested in, but I don’t know if that’s also available in the magazines or not. Or if the magazines are more like “the best products of 2024” or “how to make the most of your coffee machine” type things
I find value in it, but probably don’t use it enough to justify the $70 or whatever it is per year. I might use it for one or two purchases a year.
Tell us what you’re interested in and I’ll tell you the Choice recommendation. 😉
Noice!
I used to have a subscription, so I got the online newsletter and there are chat groups for members where they discuss products as well. Back then you could subscribe to a free newsletter and get basic updates on what not to buy, with the more detailed info available to subscribers only. If they still do this then this might be the option for you. So for example if you’re in the market for a stick vac or bathroom cleaner the free newsletter would have what not to buy but the detailed test results and product reviews they did would be available to subscribers only. The only reason I cancelled was because my finances were spread a bit too thin and I had to do a cull. Up until then I enjoyed reading the juicy stuff on how shit some of the products available to us are, and general money saving tips.
Edit: they still do the weekly free newsletter https://www.choice.com.au/promotions/newsletter
A friend shared their account with me. Whilst their reviews focus on how a product is when new, it does not really do long term reviews of how they hold up over time. Which for bigger purchases is also just as important.
Do you know if Choice has commenting or forums for subscribers? I feel like the hive mind knowledge that makes ozbargain great would be an added bonus if it did.
I gave it a quick google and it doesn’t look like it
Lemmy, Reddit, and OzBargain (and possibly YCombinator if I was after something easily jailbroken) would be my backup option if choice wasn’t worth it. Maybe Whirlpool for certain things as well. I feel like Reddit is a bit weird when it comes to products, though. Lots of random out of the blue and unexplained hate for particular products or product categories (i.e. “What’s the best coffee machine I can buy” top response: “none lol. Cafe coffee really aren’t that expensive when you look at rhe quality”, etc)
E: actually, no, choice does have a reviews section I think. I was looking at instant coffee the other day, and their #1 listing had an average of 1.7 stars. Everybody was saying it was shit. Most products didn’t have any reviews though, and I don’t think it’s members only. The products with reviews usually only had 1 or 2 reviews, so hardly a good poll of people who use x product
I know this doesn’t answer the “best instant coffee” question, but an $8 Ikea plunger and real ground coffee from Colesworth/Aldi negates the need to ever settle for instant. It actually works out a little cheaper, too.
$20 stove top Percolator is another option, no need for a kettle.
Only if you’re drinking espresso. And only ever offering espresso to prospective guests. As a flat white drinker, I’d still need a kettle.
This is a great week to pick them up for free/almost free as people got upgrades for Christmas and offload their old ones.
Buy 3 month sub, go through all products you own, or could potentially buy, in the next few years and save them all with SingleFile, cancel sub. Their reviews are helpful but should only be taken as an extra data point; not the authority.
Never bothered with their magazines coz this isn’t the 20th century.
When I lived in the u.s. and bought my first home, I had similar concerns as you as we were about to buy a lot of high end products to furnish our new home (a new car, dishwasher, vacuum, etc…).
We bought a subscription to “consumer reports” (https://www.consumerreports.org/). They test all types of products and give detailed reports on each product. They also listed some products as “do not buy” for whatever flaws a product may have - this convinced me further as there didn’t seem to be any partiality. We ended up making many purchases, all price ranges up to the price of a new car, based on their recommendations and don’t remember having any post purchase issues.
I don’t know if this can be accessed from your region nor if it covers any brands local to Australia, but it did cover a lot of imported products to the u.s. from Europe and Asia - hopefully this may help you as well.
New house needs new car? Wtf
Partner and I had just finished school and gotten really good paying jobs, we saved enough money to buy a house and new car and truck. I bought myself a new used truck to haul materials and products when fixing up the new house! 🙏
Does it work for Australian purchases? I’m sure lots of the brands will be here also, but I doubt a US site would be testing Australian/New Zealand brands like Westinghouse or Fisher & Paykel (however that’s spelled).
I just checked their website (you can look at what they’ve reviewed without a membership, just not the ratings or reviews) - there are 43 reviews for Fisher & Paykel and 45 for Westinghouse.
I’m in US so can’t speak more generally for Australian brands, but I have had good luck with CR (my library account gets me free access).
If you can afford it, it is worth subscribing even if you have no immediate large purchases on the horizon. They do good work for consumer advocacy.
Personally, nah. It’s pretty easy to get reviews these days.
