does it really cost them 30-40% more to make a stainless steel appliance?

Jul 10, 2007
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or are they capitalizing on the trend?

i mean, seriously. only the front facing pieces are SS. that's like only 20% of the exterior.
 

Sluggo

Lifer
Jun 12, 2000
15,488
5
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SS is about played out, look for horribly expensive aged bronze/copper looks in the near future.
 

Meghan54

Lifer
Oct 18, 2009
11,684
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no.

but people are willing to pay 30-40% more

/shrug


So true. Wouldn't own a SS faced appliance.....too much time spent cleaning off the fingerprints to get it looking good for the money spent on them. Guess if you like the look, go for it. Just realize the downsides (price, cleaning, etc.) are really not worth any upside, which I don't see in them. Guess appliance fashion counts for some people, though.
 

Scouzer

Lifer
Jun 3, 2001
10,358
5
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So true. Wouldn't own a SS faced appliance.....too much time spent cleaning off the fingerprints to get it looking good for the money spent on them. Guess if you like the look, go for it. Just realize the downsides (price, cleaning, etc.) are really not worth any upside, which I don't see in them. Guess appliance fashion counts for some people, though.

My place came with SS and I hate them. If I had the choice, black is the way to go.
 
Nov 29, 2006
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No it doesnt cost them that much more. They are capitolizing as you said. We got SS when we moved in on all kitchen appliances. Biggest mistake we made. Would definatly take a do over and go black and save some money.
 

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,543
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SS isn't difficult to keep clean. I prefer the look much more than bland black/white plastic/vinyl.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,959
6,798
126
I am holding out for genetically engineered zebra skin that can be grown right on the surface. I want tiger in the bathroom and turtle for my swimming pool deck. I want my roof covered in cork bark six inches thick.
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
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No it doesnt cost them that much more. They are capitolizing as you said.

:thumbsup: and if you keep an eye out for good sales you usually don't have to pay more for SS - or at least not that much more. We got our dishwasher for the same price as a white one and our SS fridge was much less than a white or black model (Clearancing out the SS but not the other colors for some reason)

I am not sure why people are complaining about keeping them clean. We just use the handles and wipe them down occasionally - which is what we did with our older ivory colored appliances. Of course we don't have kids so that may have something to do with it
 
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Jaepheth

Platinum Member
Apr 29, 2006
2,572
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The way I see it, if you're going to build an ice machine, why not do it with some style? Besides, the stainless steel construction makes the flux dispersal...
[/docbrown]
 
Jul 10, 2007
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So true. Wouldn't own a SS faced appliance.....too much time spent cleaning off the fingerprints to get it looking good for the money spent on them. Guess if you like the look, go for it. Just realize the downsides (price, cleaning, etc.) are really not worth any upside, which I don't see in them. Guess appliance fashion counts for some people, though.

that's why you get the fingerprint resistant ones, and those are 10% more than the already expensive standard SS appliances.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
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It may not be the 30-40% more, but I assure you that there are differences in SS and the painted steel and there's definitely a cost difference. There's simply different quality standards and raw materials needed for each. Small cosmetic defects that can easily be coated and/or painted over easily show themselves in stainless. That's also a reason why you see so much heavily brushed stainless in a single direction... it hides a lot of those little marks. It's funny that such a large part of steel making is avoiding scratches and marks, just to end up with the fridge being "scratched" evenly in a single direction and toting it as a design feature.
 

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
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Style sells, for some people at least. Last time I was at IKEA, I was looking at dressers. There was one that cost twice as much as the cheap bottom-end one ($200 vs. $100) and the only difference was that the more expensive one had frosted glass on the front of the drawers. The overall construction and materials were exactly the same (that is, cheap and shitty).
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
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You need to google for Supply, demand, and equilibrium.
Final cost of a product has NOTHING to do with its cost of production.

Thats why PS3's sell for less than they cost to make, and cars sell for 10 times what they cost to make.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,600
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SS isn't difficult to keep clean. I prefer the look much more than bland black/white plastic/vinyl.

Same here. White would look like shit with our cabinets and flooring. Black would look okay but I don't think black is any easier to keep clean than stainless steel...in some ways it is worse. Our stovetop is black and it looks dirty a day after you clean it.
 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,871
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We go all white for a good reason; All the stainless is finished differently. Take two white appliances side by side and they look pretty much the same. The stainless has a tint to it that does not work the same way. Two different brands will look enough different to bother most people. Get them together and some have a blue-ish tint, other more red. It is subtle until you get them side by side.
Now you are saddled with a brand. I don't really mind that except when the range from one brand is superior to another, which has a better deal on the fridge or the dishwasher. Or your dishwasher craps out ahead of it's time and you feel the need to repeat the mistake.
 

CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
30,322
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We go all white for a good reason; All the stainless is finished differently. Take two white appliances side by side and they look pretty much the same. The stainless has a tint to it that does not work the same way. Two different brands will look enough different to bother most people. Get them together and some have a blue-ish tint, other more red. It is subtle until you get them side by side.
Now you are saddled with a brand. I don't really mind that except when the range from one brand is superior to another, which has a better deal on the fridge or the dishwasher. Or your dishwasher craps out ahead of it's time and you feel the need to repeat the mistake.


I have SS Kenmore Elit frig, wall oven and dishwasher, SS Fridgidaire Micro, SS Delta faucet and SS Jenn-Aire cooktop. I have found no difference in the tint.

I used to have all black. Got rid of it as soon as I could to replace it with SS. Not difficult to clean an actually cleans better than a painted steel or aluminum. Plus, I like the look much better.
 
Jul 10, 2007
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I have SS Kenmore Elit frig, wall oven and dishwasher, SS Fridgidaire Micro, SS Delta faucet and SS Jenn-Aire cooktop. I have found no difference in the tint.

I used to have all black. Got rid of it as soon as I could to replace it with SS. Not difficult to clean an actually cleans better than a painted steel or aluminum. Plus, I like the look much better.

yup, and just to be safe, range and microwave above it are frigidaire gallery to minimize chance of mismatch.
fridge on the opposite of the kitchen is kitchenaid.
don't notice any difference at all, other than the 2 tone handle on the frigidaires.