The reason I was asking you the questions. Bob’s fridge in the office has been working off and on. We had it fixed and spent big money for it. Just tired of having the fridge taken out and back again.
Finally a few days ago I purchased a small fridge for Bob’s office. We got it from a pawnshop in Matina. Bob told me about the place a few months back. A friend of ours bought a fridge there very cheap and still in good conditioned. Before buying the fridge my niece and I went and shopped around to different appliance centers here in Davao. We saw lots of refrigerators that’s been repossessed. Some people bought fridge for installments. They would pay for only 3 months, after that they skipped paying. So then the appliance center will get the fridge back. The store will not put the items for sale immediately, they usually give two weeks before selling it again to give time for the owner to pay back. If the owner fails to pay for the allotted time then the store will sell it to the public again. We saw lots of the secondhand fridges on one of the appliance store. Only thing most were too big of a fridge for our liking. Plus its way over our budget just for the office fridge. Really the one that we saw on that pawnshop was just perfect for the office that’s why we bought it.
Over the years that Bob and I been living here we have been purchasing some refurbish and secondhand items. On top of my head right now that we purchased, just last year we purchased a used washing machine. The owner said they just used it less than a dozen times because they don’t want to pay high electricity bill. So happy to get it, it’s just like the washing machine I had in the USA that we used to have there, it’s a Whirlpool brand. We also bought 2 air-conditioners along with the washing machine too. We really got a good deal on that.
Other one that I can remember that we purchased secondhand. Bob he likes to have special keyboard that won’t make his hands/wrist sore. I shopped around here in Davao, Gensan, Cebu and Manila for it. Always out of stock, we’re just tired of waiting. I even ordered at the computer store here, they told me its takes weeks for the items to come. I’ve waited and waited still the items didn’t arrive yet until now. So when we look at eBay Philippines/Sulit and those other internet auctions here in the Philippines, we found the keyboard and its used but it’s still in good condition. Way cheaper than the brand new one and it still looked good. I asked the person that owned it, why he’s selling the item? He told me that it’s really from his foreigner uncle and since he is not around in the Philippines anymore and the keyboard just sitting in the closet, he decided to just sell it. Happy to be the recipient for the item. Still in good condition, Bob is using it now.
I guess no different than shopping for ukay-ukay too. They also had good used items there as well. We have few US Surplus stores here too. We even had here just down a few streets from us. It’s good to get excuse to go walking and see the new items they have there. 🙂 To be honest when I was in the States I’m really into going to Flea market/garage sale/antique shops. I saw lots of good decor there. Happy to buy good and useful stuff there for the house. I guess it shows it’s okay with me to use secondhand stuff or refurbished. Certain items that I’m not going to buy that it’s used by someone else.
How about you are you okay using refurbished or secondhand stuff? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Cheers!
I have no problem with second hand items. I am a flea market junkie. I love a good deal, new or used.
Same here Carl, don’t have problem buying used stuff. I so love going to flea market and antique shops. 🙂
Cheers!
Hey I need links for buy my fiancée a refrigerator in Mindanao and washing machine can you please help me I would prefer a used fridge smaller, and washing machine is not necessary but if I can pick up a good on one I would like that, thing is I live in Canada and joy is from Mindanao prosperidad patin-ay can you give me advice please as my fiancée knows nothing about the benifits of finding a good deal second hand
That is me too, Carl, if it is a good deal, I’m all in!
Hello Feyma,
My daughter and I do not mind second hand items. We have even bought some items just to resale. I enjoy reading your and Bob’s blog. I can’t wait to visit in the spring.
Brian
Thanks, Brian, we appreciate that! I am always happy to know that we have another happy reader here!
Hi Brian – Good for you and your daughter.
I’m glad you like our site. Glad you comment here too. Keep reading.
Have a great day!
Keyboards are very simple, they either work properly or they don’t – 5 minutes using it tells all.
Personally for local availability I like “A4tech”, cheap, comfortable, and they work until you wear them out, which is about 2 years of almost constant 24/7 use. If it works for a week it will be fine for 2 years. I keep the old ones for spare parts to limp along the newer ones. Keyboards are simple; we could have a long discussion about hard disk drives and other components.
That is not the case for major appliances like washing machines or refrigerators.
In most cases the reseller will have no clue as to the actual condition of the appliance, and their only interest is to get some money out of it. Beware.
I only buy major appliances *new* and from a retailer that I might hope will be in business long enough to match the warranty period and likely even be able to service the warranty. Even then, that may not be enough, the problem is when you move to somewhere remote from the retailer. I purchased a 40K+peso high-end brand-name washing machine ew at SM Appliance in Cavite then moved here in the original crate and unpacked here (really, we only used it 3 times). Won’t work a 4th time to this moment, the display insists to call for service and a year later after many calls it still insists the same and my NDD bill suggests not to waste yet more money trying. The retailer and brand are both well-known and reputable – yes, 40+k for something that occupies the corner and does nothing. If I was in a major city I could surely push the case and have them make it work, but here in the middle of nowhere the cost to continually try to do so is prohibitive – and they KNOW that. If they ever open an outlet here I’ll deal with them then.
The good news is that the peso4k coffee-maker worked for a couple of months, the large LED TV is still working after two paid-for repairs (under warranty!), and I’m waiting now almost 4 years for a service call on the Ariston cooker/stove, but hey, 2 of 4 burners and a working oven – should I expect more?. Thankfully the 2-cubic aircon and the large ‘ref” continue to work as does the freezer I later bought new locally 2 years ago. We won’t even mention rice cookers, never mind their one-year bogus guarantee – expect to replace it every 4 months.
As for used/reposessed/pawned, I’d only consider such if I can personally be confident it will work for longer than it takes to get it home, which typically means NOT. Don’t expect them to remember you after you part with your money and walk out their door.
Hi Ed – For me, a Keyboard is one of the main tools of my trade. I don’t believe in buying cheap tools when it is used for something that is my craft. For example, I would never buy an A4 keyboard. Now, I am not saying that others should not buy one, it just depends on how they will use it. For example, if I buy a hammer, well, I don’t need a very good one, because I rarely use a hammer, and I certainly don’t use it to make a living. But, when I buy a keyboard, that is my day to day work partner! It would be rare for me to spend less than $100 on a keyboard, in fact I have even spent much more than that on some keyboards in the past, and have never regretted it. Same thing for a computer mouse, I have spent as much as $200 on a mouse in the past, and it has been worth every cent.
So, different types of equipment for different people, no doubt.
I never buy a brand new in the box large appliance. I always ask for scratch and dent items. Saves me hundreds of dollars and fridges and stoves are always covered anyways.
Hi Ed – Well on the keyboard and PC we don’t mind paying good money on that because that’s also the one makes us good money.
We might have the same washing machine. You should let somebody look at the lid. My technician said that’s really the problem of that machine, just how many washed the lid gets loose then it would not spin. I had the technician here twice for that. Thank God it is working now.
If I’m paying that kind of money I sure want somebody to be in my house fixing my machine. I will not take no for an answer. Too much money to be wasted. Just my opinion anyway. LOL
Good luck to you!
Better than ,,plus lower cost
If it’s what I need and have a use for…Why not! (except clothing)
Yes, lower cost indeed, Bryon Green!
Hi Heinz – I even have some used clothing. Over the years, there have been times that I have bought a shirt or something like that on eBay, if I like it. 🙂
Feyma, I Have bought most of my thing new but only because there are not of resale stores here. I actually prefer Used Items because you can get good items at a much lower price that new. I bought a Multicab here And discovered that it had problems so I took it back the the dealer I got it from. They did not have a mechanic there but took it to a so called mechanic that just had me buy parts that had no relevance to the problem. I suggested what I though the problem was and was basically ignored. the problem persisted until I finally decided to work on it Myself. I suspected a Blown head gasket from the very beginning but it could have also been a cracked head or engine block. In any case a Head gasket would be needed so I bought one and then hired a mechanic that I knew the remove and inspect the Head and engine block before replacing the head gasket and reassembling. when he got the head off the gasket had multiple holes in it and turned out to be the problem all along. the total cost for labor and parts was 3000 PHP and i have had no further problems with it. It is used every day to take Barangay kids to High School and College 18 of them total. I has been by far the best purchase I’ve made even with the engine problem it had. Labor is incredibly cheap here and so are most automotive parts. So even with a known defect you can still save a lot of money buy buying second hand Items.
Hi Joe – That’s a headache. But like you said luckily the labor cost here it’s so cheap. Luckily for us we know people that knows a good mechanic. So whenever we had car trouble, I can just have that friend bring that mechanic with him to our house.
Good luck with your multicab. Good to see you here.
Have a wonderful day!
Only way to avoid having too much month left at the end of the money.
when i move back home ,,ever thing ,is brought in a garage sale ,,or in a second hand place i saved a lot of $ not buying new ,,second hand only
I like that saying, Jerry O’Bryan. 🙂 Too much month left! 🙂
It does stretch the budget, Bryon!
yes i stretch mine i love it
garage sale are starting to pick up in angle city philippines ,more ,are buying in second hand sales
Hi Feyma,
Likewise, I am a fan of garage sales/flea markets, you can really find good items in those places, I also like the Goodwill stores, I got some purses, relatively new, brand names even, that I send to my sister in Taal, for her use or she sells them to her friends. As they say, another man’s garbage, another man’s treasure.
Hope all is well with you and the family. Regards,
Vivien
Hi Vivien – Ha ha ha. the antiques junkie. Can’t help it though. 🙂
I’m also a fan of Goodwill stores. I bought lots of house decors and curtains there.
*** As they say, another man’s garbage, another man’s treasure. *** — Amen to that… LOL
We are good Vivien. Thank you so much. Nice to see you here again. Thank you also for the comment.
Take care!
Hello,
my asawa and I live in the States, and have made one family visit to Davao. While there, we went to a pawnshop and bought a wedding band for me, because my fingers have got bigger. I can’t remember the price, but basically we got it at it’s gold value, my aunt looked at it here and said we paid about half of what we pay here, because we didn’t have to pay for a fancy jeweler’s markup. We most of our clothes at resale shops, and we buy all our vehicles when they are either 1 or 2 years old and save a lot of money. We work too hard for our money and don’t want to pretend we are big shots!
No problem buying second hand. I have bought many things, just as good as new – cheaper.
Ok, there’s no warranty, butI have not yet need to use a warranty, and i do wonder if it’s worth anything at all.
For me…i like to go to auctions here – here i can find things from US, Australia and Japan in a good quality.
Some things are used, some things new. No warranty
I have found some great buys over the years at yard sales here in the US. We are currently doing just the opposite and trying to find buyers for about 90% of everything we own , but its a long process of selling it all, although much of the smaller things will be given to charities as we get closer to the time of selling our house for the big move to there someday.
I think I remembered at least one reader telling about a place near Manila, where the big retail stores sent there scratch and dent items to sell at much reduced prices. Do you know of any such places there in Davao? Was just curious what the big stores do with all the scratched anddented appliances they would undoubtedly get many of, like most retail stores get.
One lesson life has taught me is that it can takes only a few seconds to buy something but far far longer to sell it (for a decent price).
My wife buys many things for me at the okok resale shops around here. No stores in town have my size of shirt. XXL and very few have size 40 pants. But she does find those sizes from time to time at resale shops.
Hi Budrick, in the past year or so a local mall department store, NCCC, is carrying 2x and even 3x shirts as part of their regular stock. If you are ever in Davao stock up!
I’ll keep that in mind, I think some time in January we will be driving through there.
I am all for buying secondhand if the item is in good working order and the price is right, allowing for lack of warranty. It saves on initial cost and also can save on repair costs if a good-condition secondhand replacement of the faulty item is cheaper than the repair cost (that may not count so much in The Philippines where, I understand, repair costs can be very cheap).
In the UK we have many charity shops selling clothes and, if washed before use (even though the shops steam clean them before sale), they can be an amazing bargain. I even bought a pair of almost new £125 shoes for £5 a few years back.
The other big advantage of buying secondhand and also of having low repair costs is the saving to our planet of resources.
Hi Feyma – Just recently Marilou wanted more storage space in our bedroom and rather than build fitted cupboards she saw two wardrobes (Double & Single) in a Korean secondhand store here in CdeO. She took photographs to show me as well as the measurements to ensure they would fit into the bedroom. Anyhow I agreed and she bought them and I had a little project of restoring them not difficult as they were both in excellent condition.
With the furniture being made in Korea the quality is much better than anything I’ve seen made locally so we have no regrets with our purchase on this occasion.
Regards.
Jim.
Hi Jim – Good for you. I think I saw that on your FB wall. I think I even gave a thumbs up. It looks antique and I like the color of the stain that you used. There’s a store that I like in CDO, I forgot the name. My friends from Iligan brought me there. They’re selling crystals, furniture’s, bird houses and others.
Always good to see you here. Cheers!
That was my business i the U S A..Used washers dryers refrigerators and stoves you just got to know how to check them out before you buy…Nothing wrong with buying that way I always have…Your Whirlpool is a great brand…
It`s very hard to find a good quality for example the kitchen items in the Philippines, almost all of them will be covered with rust sooner than later! That`s why while in our home in Finland we buy second (or even 3th hand items from different places we find quite easily. Also as for gifts for the family there. Baligbayan box will deliver those easily and quite cheap too. I am not thinking only the prize and how much we save…but also recycling! Save the world one item at the time makes us also feel good that we did something about the matter!
You can really save a lot of money doing this, I remember the interview Bob Martin did about Gold mine in your neighborhood. Or something like that. recently I picked up a Leather briefcase that i thought was brand new, then when i got it home it had the receipt inside, I guess it was a gift that was never opened. My wife is always buying stuff 2nd hand or discounted as off season. for about 1/20th of the regular price.
You can really save a lot of money doing this, I remember the interview Bob Martin did about Gold mine in your neighborhood. Or something like that. recently I picked up a Leather briefcase that i thought was brand new, then when i got it home it had the receipt inside, I guess it was a gift that was never opened. My wife is always buying stuff 2nd hand or discounted as off season. for about 1/20th of the regular price.
Feyma,
There is no problem with buying 2nd hand. Think about it, we may buy new, but we always own used.
I am pretty sure that most of what I plan to use in my place there in the Philippines will probably be used. My motorcycle of course was used.
When my wife comes back from garage sales, or clearance sales at stores, she is always excited to show me what she got. Course now she makes sure what she buys we can send to the Philippines, so it is mostly clothes and stuff. For us or her family. Sometimes these things she gets from garage sales still have the tags on them. Perfectly good stuff.
Told her that she may miss these Hunting activities when we move. But maybe there are more deals to get at some of these stores in the Philippines. Just have to look at somewhere other than the big malls.
I agree, James… the savings are huge, as long as the item works and is reliable.
Didn’t realize that my post on the share on your facebook would be posted here. LOL I look like I went crazy on the posts here. Well at least my Picture was different.
The comments from FB for the post that announces the LiP article are automatically imported to the site. It all happens automatically.
When my wife and I were in the U.S. we looked forward to warm weather, not just because it meant a time when we could be in less pain, but because it also meant garage sales would be plentiful. Much of the furniture I had in the house was garage sale deals, or freebies posted on the internet that I had refinished and made my own. Something I liked and looked nice, not to mention useful. My wife was at first apprehensive about going to them, but quickly fell in love with the prices we paid for our items.
It is actually one of the things we miss here. And the weather here is PERFECT for year round garage sales!
As for purchases, I avoided some purchases of second hand items because repair costs were so high there, and buying something from someone you didn’t know was scary if you were unsure of their honesty. But since labor is so cheap here, I think I would buy many of the things I would not have before. Appliances for sure. Probably even electronics as they are so darn much money here compared to the U.S.
Second hand buyers? YES! I wish there were more second hand shops around here!
Hi. I found this article searching for used refrigerators in Davao. I live in Davao, and I’m looking for a fridge (and aircon) for my new place. Could you give me the name and address of the place you purchased yours from? Also, how did you get it delivered? Thanks!
I’m new here in davao, just move here last week, I’m looking for a 2nd hand aircon, I didn’t see a good deal yet, i need to buy 4 window type aircon, 2pcs 2HP and 2 pcs 0.5HP, does anyone have idea where to go to buy used items here in davao city?
please let me know, it would be a great help for me
09196008862