Bit of a long story here, but bear with me. TL;DR at end for those who can't wait.
I've been keeping an eye out for a LG 55' C9 for a while now, primarily for gaming (120Hz at 4k over HDMI2.1 once the devices that output it come out, plus 120hz 4k with some caveats over 2.0). Not that I have a PC powerful enough to pump out those kind of numbers on a AAA title, but I wanted one because it was the best option, and I'd seen the lowest price here of ~1800 and thought that wasn't too bad.
So, being a true OzBargainer I scoured ebay and gumtree for a few days, and there it was, the object of my desire, at a steal of a price. A 2nd hand C9 at Cash Converters for 1399. I instantly sent a offer in at that price, and called them. They said they just put it up about 5 mins ago, and I put down a deposit over the phone. They didn't have the box for it but I figured that with some careful planning I could do it in a ute or trailer, or a van.
I went to cashies, checked out the TV (OLED thinness had people actually wowing at it in the store). I got a random off airtasker to turn up with a trailer and got it safely to my house for $65. He was Foul Language useless tbh but the TV got there safe.
Here's where it get's interesting. I set up the TV, wowed at how good it looked on some 4k videos with oled designed, and my partner and I were like damn, what a deal. I noticed one bright, and one dead pixel, but I wasn't overly concerned as you can't see it from more than 1.5m and thats not an issue where it is in the house. As I went to peel the price sticker off the remote I looked at it and was a bit confused, but figured it was a mistake. The label said C8, not C9. So I checked the TV serial label and sure enough…C8. Foul Language. That explains why it was only 1400.
A lot of thinking went on in a very short space of time. The C8 did everything stupidly well EXCEPT the main reason I got it, 4K 120hz. It can do 1440@120, but it just wasn't quite what I was dreaming of. 95% of it for sure, but that last 5% was like damn. Of course I called up the store, talked to the sales person I'd been dealing with. It was a Foul Language up by a new person doing gumtree uploads that day, they just googled the model, took the first result (C9 turned up somehow) and rolled with it. Manager had talked to them and said sorry and gave the offer of returning it to the store for a refund, and a store credit of what I paid my delivery guy (who I'd have to get to pick it up again, and take it back, although they did offer to credit that as well), or if I was interested, an offer of $400 refunded. I talked to the manager the next day and squeezed another $50 out of him to keep it, and suddenly my $950 55' C8 is starting to look really damn good. But wait, thats not the title of this post, so what gives?
I loved the C8, but just for kicks thought I'd throw it up on gumtree for $1600 to see if I got any bites. After a few weeks of no bites I dropped it to $1500 and was prepared to leave it there until it expired. But a few days later I got a call from a guy who was keen, and we agreed to $1450, and all went smoothly. So at this point I've made $500 in cash and I'm pretty damn happy about it. But I still want that C9.
I knew eventually they would come up for sale given they have just been discontinued, but being the impatient SOB I am I did my usual searching online and came up with nothing interesting, except a $2000 deal on ebay (not bad with a $500 win under my belt, but still not a historical low price, so it didn't count in my bargain searching brain). I even tried calling Good Guys to negotiate a cash deal and was only able to get them to $1999 pick up. But while talking to the good guy I got a tidbit of info, they were going 15% off in a few days. So bright and early that day I check their site, and sure enough there they are for about 2120 or so. Still not a deal in my eyes. But what they hey, maybe they can do a better deal now there's an official 15% off sale. Called up the good guys again, and got a non-tv department person who asked what the magic number was (1800) and said she'd call me back. Less than half an hour later I get told that staff price is 1818 and she'll do 1820 pick up with $50 delivery. Now it's not the historic low of $1695.75+delivery, but given that was before the rona and the dollar shitting itself I doubt we'll get that price for a bit, and with them being a clearance model now I don't know if they will go for much lower whilst still being in stock at the usual discounters we see here. So I say heck yeah, but I'll pick it up because I've got a friend who can help out.
HECK YES - BRAND NEW TV FOR $1385
Anyway, sorry for the essay, I just feel I got a hell of a deal for an hour or 2 of my time and wanted to share the experience with you all. I finally got my historic low deal.
TL;DR
Bought a C9 off Cahsies that was actually a C8, got refunded $450 to keep it, sold it to a guy to make a further $50, and then bargained with Good Guys to get a discount on a sale price.
nice op, don't need to work ?