Clearance Merchandise - Is It a Good Choice For Me??

 

Ready to ship open-box laundry

First of all,  I've always intensely disliked the phrase "Scratch and Dent"!  

That term, as I will discuss below, just doesn't do many of our open box products proper justice.

But, as it's the end of 2025, Manny's - just like many other retailers -  are promoting our end-of-year clearance merchandise.   

It has become a retail tradition over the last thirty plus years, after the insanity of Christmas and holiday buying, for department and big-box stores to focus on their leftover merchandise. To encourage consumers to come back out to their stores and shop, post-Christmas mark-down and clearance sales became common. These promotions made sense, and many consumers started to wait to take advantage of these sales on leftover toys, stereos, shirts, etc.

As an appliance retailer our "business cycle" is a bit different.  November, with all those aggressive Black Friday/Black November discounts, has become a busier month for us than December.  

Still, we know a lot of people look for these clearance style deals... so here we are!  We too are promoting clearance deals, one-of-a-kinds, scratch-and-dent, open-box deals as well.

You might ask: is open box merchandise a good decision for you?

In a lot of instances, buying "open box" can be a win-win.  There are many reasons for us to mark down an open box appliance on our showroom floor:

One washer might have had a minor problem. After we exchange the model for our customer, our service department repairs the unit and checks it out for resale. It makes its way back to a showroom (usually, but not always, our Westfield MA location), where it is sold at an appropriate discount and with a full warranty.

Another washer might simply have been a mis-order (yes, being humans, we do sometimes make mistakes!). Since that unit is now out of its original box, we can't sell it as "brand new".  We discount the product, which can make for a great deal for a customer who doesn't mind the fact that the box is gone.

Other items might be "open box" because of a size issue (despite our best efforts to anticipate, sometimes a 28 cubic foot behemoth of a French Door refrigerator simply doesn't fit through a doorway).  Or perhaps the side or front of a range is dented.  If our customer preferred a new delivery vs. taking a damage allowance, we will bring that original piece to a sales floor (again, usually but not always Westfield) and sell it at an appropriate discount.

Sometimes a certain model simply becomes discontinued.  When this happens we will sell off our display piece with a nice discount.  We like to keep our showrooms "fresh"!

A just-discontinued Whirlpool washer and dryer

So if you are looking to find a great deal on an appliance and can live with minor imperfections (or in some cases no issues at all other than the fact that the piece was brought to someone's house and then put back on the delivery truck), a clearance event like such as Manny's is having right now can be a perfect time to buy!

On the other hand, just as some people are only comfortable buying a new car fresh off the showroom, maybe you simply prefer a piece that is factory-fresh.  No problem!  We always are getting deals, discounts, and rebates from manufacturers that we are happy to pass on to you.

Oficially, the clearance event promoted in our circular runs through 12-31 (you can check out our flyer on the front page of our website, just to the left of the "Our blog" link you pressed moments ago.)  

In reality, our stores always have at least some open box merchandise available - sometimes a lot, sometimes not so much.  Check with any of our thirteen stores (contact info is always on the front page of our website) if you have any questions, or have a particular product in mind.  New or out-of-the-box, we're always here to help you out!!