price break on KitchenAid stand mixer

[passatdoc]

For those of you who lust over one day owning a KitchenAid stand mixer....Amazon has dropped its price on the basic white 4.5 quart stand mixer to $179.99. My mixer is ten years old and was purchased from Amazon for $169.99. At that time, there was a sale on kitchen items and one received a $10 gift card for every $50 in kitchen purchases, so I received $30 back in gift cards (so net cost was $139.99). Before Christmas the Amazon price was a rigid $199.99---and I think it lists for $250.

The basic model can handle 7-8 cups of bread flour or double cookie dough batches. If you bake 2-3 loaves daily, you may want a larger/more powerful model, but the basic model is fine for someone who uses it several times a week (rather than quasi-industrial use). You can have any color so long as it's white.

Amazon.com

 

[westie2]

I agree with you on good price.  We got ours for the $169.00 years ago it is the 4.5 qt. Ultra and has the handle on the bowl along with the pouring cover.

 

 

 

[passatdoc]

$134 per mixer if you use their 4-for-3 special

The handle on the bowl is nice, the basic one (mine) lacks a handle. A handy accessory is the 3 quart bowl, good for smaller jobs and it nests inside the 4.5 qt bowl for storage. Usually the 3 qt sells for $30 at Amazon. I also bought one of the flat beaters with silicone "fins" that scrape the sides of the bowl. Very handy. With two flat beaters and two bowls, you can do a lot of baking without having to stop and wash the bowls/beaters for re-use.

PS I also bought the 4.5 qt basic white model in 2004 as a housewarming gift for some very close friends. Price was still $169 and they had the $10 gift card per $50 spent promotion. I got $30 in gift cards so net cost once again was $169. Given that the best price was $169 a decade ago, $179 isn't bad for now. If someone really wanted to splurge, and buy one for themselves and two as gifts, they are currently running a 4-for-3 promotion. If you buy three kitchen items, the fourth item is free (the lowest priced of the four items is free, so if you select four stand mixers, the fourth will be free, which works out to $134 per unit.

Addendum: I tried adding four of the mixers to my cart and it's blocked. There is a limit of three per customer, which blocks one from using the 4-for-3 special.

 

[petek]

KA stand mixer prices have been plummeting in Canada. Where they were always somewhere around 30-40% more expensive in Canada than the US not so much if any longer. The classic whites are now in the $188-$199 range and before and after Christmas the Ultra Plus models were selling at many stores for even less than that. Walmart had stacks of the Ultra plus models sitting unsold for $179.
It may be that the KA mixer market is becoming saturated now and lower prices is the only way they can keep up the sales momentum.

 

[passatdoc]

Wow, given that there hasn't been much movement of the US-Canada dollar exchange rate in months (they are within 1% of each other), it can't be attributed to exchange rate fluctuations. The Ultra Plus has a higher watt motor (275 or 300 vs the classic's 250W) and normally sells here for slightly more than the classic. I think you may be right, perhaps the market is saturated. Ultra Plus mixers for $179 would not sit around here unsold for long. It appears that the KA is just as popular in Canada as in the USA.

 

[maytagbear]

I have a Hobart built

Classic, bought it over 20 years ago. I bought an extra full-size bowl then, for the handle. When the 3 quart bowl came out, I bought one of those, as well.

I do bake a fair bit, and have always had great results with my KA. Sure, I'd like an Ultra, in "Gloss Cinnamon," but my K45SS has never let me down. Mine's in Almond Cream.

Most of the time, I now mix and raise bread dough in my 12 cup KA processor. Mix and knead the dough, leave it in the work bowl, covered, and punch down by pulsing.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[passatdoc]

Oh yeah, I forgot that the K45SS used to come in white or almond cream. I believe your color has been discontinued, because I only see new ones for sale in white.

I tend to make bread dough in double batches, so I have to use the stand mixer. I have a 9 cup KA food processor with dough blade, I never thought of using it for smaller batches of dough, but yeah I could do that, huh? I used to have the 12 cup processor with all the accessories and the huge storage box, but it was overkill (I received it as a gift, I would never have bought anything THAT big). I really didn't have the room for it (or the accessories box) and wound up donating it to a thrift store that benefits a worthy local charity. I had nearly $60 in spare change that I exchanged at a Coinstar machine for an amazon certificate, and then bought the 9 cup model (right size for me) for $108 two years ago (this model now sells for $190). $60 in coins and $48 on the credit card. I really ought to use the dough blade, especially on smaller batches.