How to Get the Best Price on Hearing Aids
Posted by CENTURY HEARING
How to Get the Best Price on Hearing Aids Getting a really good deal on hearing aids generally takes a bit of work leg work. The best thing you can do is to be patient. The next key ingredient is Speaking Up. Speaking up really does bring costs down - speaking up for yourself - speaking up for what you want to pay and sticking to that price. If you have both of these ingredients, patience and speaking up, you can find what you're looking for and save a ton of money. Let's take a look at a 15 ideas:
1. Don't believe the advertisements. Relying on advertised sales can be a costly mistake. A friend of mine thought he'd buy a hearing aid at an after-Christmas sale -- until he discovered that the same hearing model he'd bought before Christmas was nearly 30% higher during the after Christmas "sale." If you do see a good-looking ad, bring it to the competition. Some hearing aid sellers will match or beat other sellers prices, especially on big-ticket items like hearing aids. I am an online seller, sometimes when you raises prices - you get more sales - I have no idea why but it works.
2. Dig for discounts. Ask for a price cut on hearing aids that are scratched, dented, or otherwise flawed, or recently returned past the 30, 60 or 90 day trial period. I bought an iPhone that was recently return for $100 that sold new for $400 - the guy used it for one day. But don't stop there ask for hearing aids models that have just been discontinued or older versions, This years hearing aids are barely marginally better with clarity than last years models - just more costly.
3. Go straight to the top. Can't cut a deal with hearing aid sales person? Ask for the manager or supervisor or owner -- they have more authority to negotiate.
4. Pursue package deals - ask for extras. When you buy a high priced items like hearing aids try to get the seller to throw in a few extras, such as a dry aid, or extra tubes, or tips, or batteries or bluetooth device or extended warranties or extended Loss and Damage packages as much as possible.
5. Be flexible. Small changes can make a big difference in price. Whatever it is you're buying, it's smart to consider similar styles, models, and colors. (Does your hearing aid really have to have 32 channels, with telecoil, with lots of other gizmos or do you really need beige or can you use silver - which might be harder to sell -from sellers viewpoint) Waiting a few days (if they do not have it in stock) for delivery can net you a discount as well.
6. Be willing to switch your hearing aid providers. When a neighbor's audiologist retired, a friend recommended her family's hearing aid dispenser - a dispenser is trained by an audiologist and licensed to fit and sell hearings but did not go through the doctor of audiology courses at a university. My neighbor not only likes the new dispenser better, but his fees are about 35 percent lower. Now he always compares rates before hiring anyone, including dentists and lawyers. As he learned, high prices do not ensure the highest quality.
7. Push yourself beyond your (city) limits. A new customer of mine told me a story about how he bought his first pair of hearing aids...he found and studied a hearing aid buyers guide, then he scoured the Internet for invoice prices for the model they'd selected, then negotiated with the nearest hearing aid seller. But he still didn't sign on the dotted line: Instead, he called every other hearing aid seller within a two-hour radius in search of a more competitive quote. He offered the first quote and asked if they could do any better. Armed with that information, he got the local firm to come down another $1,800 below the first "best price."
8. Get on the mailing lists. Join the mailing -newsletter lists of the all the hearing aid manufacturers, local and online hearing aid sellers. You'll receive coupons as well as advance notice of sales, and other bargains.
9. Search online for coupons. The ones you find there are often much more worthwhile than the kind you clip out of your Sunday circular. Many Web merchants post offers for 10% to 50% off any purchase, for instance. Find sites like coupons.com, retailmenot.com, shopathome.com, etc.
10. Try teaming up with another friend with hearing loss. Try shopping with a friend with hearing loss (and is ready to buy too) and ask for quantity 4 pack deal. Hearing Aid sellers love to sell 4 hearing aids any day of the week.
11. Hunt for hidden charges. Some hearing aid sellers boost profits by tacking on high fees for extended warranties and extended Loss and Damage Insurance plans or free batteries for life of aids. Or free adjustments and tube or tip replacements -- including some you might not expect. When a friend shopped for a new hearing aids recently, he learned that one place not only charged $500 for the batteries, tubes and tips service, where he could buy the same hearing aid batteries, tubes and tips online for a fraction of the price -its really not all that difficult to change out tubes and tips. Ask for the price of hearings with without the one year or extended warranty - getting hearing aids fixed outside warranty is $199 - a service we offer.
12. Be on the lookout for loan-shark financing -- including promotions promising "no money down and no interest for another six months." Often, the bill must be paid in full when the free period ends, or you'll be charged interest retroactive to the purchase date. And watch out for the those really high APR rates..like 19% You could end up paying an extra $1000 for your hearing aids in interest fees.
13. When you get a hearing aid quote, don't focus only on the bottom line. Scan every line item for erroneous charges. The mistakes can be quickly corrected -- but only because you looked for them.
14. Shop Online or at Costco. The internet was created to compare prices. That is why Century Hearing Aids exists. Costco...without a doubt offers great prices on the RIC hearing aids - we covered this here: Hearing Aids at Costco
15. Ask for Member Discounts. Ask for member discounts like AARP, AAA or Military Discounts.
1. Don't believe the advertisements. Relying on advertised sales can be a costly mistake. A friend of mine thought he'd buy a hearing aid at an after-Christmas sale -- until he discovered that the same hearing model he'd bought before Christmas was nearly 30% higher during the after Christmas "sale." If you do see a good-looking ad, bring it to the competition. Some hearing aid sellers will match or beat other sellers prices, especially on big-ticket items like hearing aids. I am an online seller, sometimes when you raises prices - you get more sales - I have no idea why but it works.
2. Dig for discounts. Ask for a price cut on hearing aids that are scratched, dented, or otherwise flawed, or recently returned past the 30, 60 or 90 day trial period. I bought an iPhone that was recently return for $100 that sold new for $400 - the guy used it for one day. But don't stop there ask for hearing aids models that have just been discontinued or older versions, This years hearing aids are barely marginally better with clarity than last years models - just more costly.
3. Go straight to the top. Can't cut a deal with hearing aid sales person? Ask for the manager or supervisor or owner -- they have more authority to negotiate.
4. Pursue package deals - ask for extras. When you buy a high priced items like hearing aids try to get the seller to throw in a few extras, such as a dry aid, or extra tubes, or tips, or batteries or bluetooth device or extended warranties or extended Loss and Damage packages as much as possible.
5. Be flexible. Small changes can make a big difference in price. Whatever it is you're buying, it's smart to consider similar styles, models, and colors. (Does your hearing aid really have to have 32 channels, with telecoil, with lots of other gizmos or do you really need beige or can you use silver - which might be harder to sell -from sellers viewpoint) Waiting a few days (if they do not have it in stock) for delivery can net you a discount as well.
6. Be willing to switch your hearing aid providers. When a neighbor's audiologist retired, a friend recommended her family's hearing aid dispenser - a dispenser is trained by an audiologist and licensed to fit and sell hearings but did not go through the doctor of audiology courses at a university. My neighbor not only likes the new dispenser better, but his fees are about 35 percent lower. Now he always compares rates before hiring anyone, including dentists and lawyers. As he learned, high prices do not ensure the highest quality.
7. Push yourself beyond your (city) limits. A new customer of mine told me a story about how he bought his first pair of hearing aids...he found and studied a hearing aid buyers guide, then he scoured the Internet for invoice prices for the model they'd selected, then negotiated with the nearest hearing aid seller. But he still didn't sign on the dotted line: Instead, he called every other hearing aid seller within a two-hour radius in search of a more competitive quote. He offered the first quote and asked if they could do any better. Armed with that information, he got the local firm to come down another $1,800 below the first "best price."
8. Get on the mailing lists. Join the mailing -newsletter lists of the all the hearing aid manufacturers, local and online hearing aid sellers. You'll receive coupons as well as advance notice of sales, and other bargains.
9. Search online for coupons. The ones you find there are often much more worthwhile than the kind you clip out of your Sunday circular. Many Web merchants post offers for 10% to 50% off any purchase, for instance. Find sites like coupons.com, retailmenot.com, shopathome.com, etc.
10. Try teaming up with another friend with hearing loss. Try shopping with a friend with hearing loss (and is ready to buy too) and ask for quantity 4 pack deal. Hearing Aid sellers love to sell 4 hearing aids any day of the week.
11. Hunt for hidden charges. Some hearing aid sellers boost profits by tacking on high fees for extended warranties and extended Loss and Damage Insurance plans or free batteries for life of aids. Or free adjustments and tube or tip replacements -- including some you might not expect. When a friend shopped for a new hearing aids recently, he learned that one place not only charged $500 for the batteries, tubes and tips service, where he could buy the same hearing aid batteries, tubes and tips online for a fraction of the price -its really not all that difficult to change out tubes and tips. Ask for the price of hearings with without the one year or extended warranty - getting hearing aids fixed outside warranty is $199 - a service we offer.
12. Be on the lookout for loan-shark financing -- including promotions promising "no money down and no interest for another six months." Often, the bill must be paid in full when the free period ends, or you'll be charged interest retroactive to the purchase date. And watch out for the those really high APR rates..like 19% You could end up paying an extra $1000 for your hearing aids in interest fees.
13. When you get a hearing aid quote, don't focus only on the bottom line. Scan every line item for erroneous charges. The mistakes can be quickly corrected -- but only because you looked for them.
14. Shop Online or at Costco. The internet was created to compare prices. That is why Century Hearing Aids exists. Costco...without a doubt offers great prices on the RIC hearing aids - we covered this here: Hearing Aids at Costco
15. Ask for Member Discounts. Ask for member discounts like AARP, AAA or Military Discounts.
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