How to get a Vita-Mix 5200 (for a great price!)

I’ve been posting about me using my Vitamix 5200, and I figure it’d be a good idea to share some information about how I ended up getting one.

There was a ridiculous sale on a refurbished Blendtec blender on Fat Wallet.  The original post originally said that the coupon was good until September 2nd without mentioning an expiration date for the blender price, and since it was still a good chunk of money, my wife suggested that we sleep on it, since we believed we had until the 2nd to purchase the blender at that price.

As sad as it might sound, while I was asleep that night, I had a dream about a using an awesomely powerful blender, and when I woke up in the morning, I was sure I wanted to order it.  Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, the reduced price of the blender had only been good for the previous day.

The good news was that in my hunt to find a similar great deal on a blender in the days that followed, I found plenty of negative posts about that specific refurbished Blendtec item and the company that’d been selling them for that price.  While I’m sure Blendtec blenders are good, buying a “refurbished” blender that’s not actually refurbished by the manufacturer from a company that is shipping broken and heavily used units wasn’t a route I wanted to consider going down.

I decided that if I was going to spend upwards of $100 on a blender, I may as well do it right, so I researched both Blendtec and Vita-Mix some more, as well as other blender makers.  Rather than trying to find the cheapest deal, I was now trying to find a great deal on a great product that came with a great warranty.

At the end of the day, my own personal conclusion was that both the Vita-Mix and BlendTec blenders looked like fantastic devices, and that I wanted either the Vitamix 5200 or the BlendTec Total Blender, and that I wanted to make sure it came with a good warranty and in good condition.  I tried to find deals at places like Bed Bath & Beyond or online, but when I’d find what looked like a good deal, such as a 20% off coupon at Bed Bath & Beyond, the fine print would exclude Vitamix and Blendtec products.

Now, I wasn’t worried about cosmetic scratches, and both companies offered refurbished models directly from their website with multi-year warranties, so I decided the best price and best course of action would probably be to contact both companies directly through their “contact us” forms on their webpages.

BlendTec never got back to me, but Vita-Mix did.  I received an e-mail answering all my questions and giving me the contact information for Brenda, the sales woman who would later sell me my blender.  My main concern was that there would be a better deal or coupon that would be worth waiting for, and she assured me that free shipping was the best coupon I’d find for Vita-Mix, and that even their refurbished model came with a full five year warranty.  (The coupon code for free shipping is 06-006651)  That made me comfortable in knowing that I really wasn’t going to get a better deal, so I bought the refurbished 5200, which came with some other goodies along with the free shipping, and that was the start of this blog here!  It’s worth mentioning that the 5200 looked brand new when I received it, and I have no complaints so far.

Again, if anyone is interested in getting a Vita-Mix 5200 for the best possible price, assuming that they still have it, I highly recommend the refurbished 5200.  While you can see their products here, you can also call them directly, and I highly recommend speaking with Brenda Kilbane.  Since I think she’d be happy to speak with anyone who’s interested in buying a Vita-Mix, I assume she’d be OK with me sharing her contact details here:  1-800-848-2649, extension 2305, and use the 06-006651 coupon code for free shipping.

So there we go, that’s how I got my blender, and how you can get your own.  Now I can get back to talking about what I can make with my blender. 🙂

Edit: I actually used my warranty.  You can read about my experience here.  The short version is that VitaMix’s support team is very good.

Update (3/23/2013):  In addition to the refurbished 5200 I mentioned, there is now a refurbished 7500/Pro 300/Creations Elite available.  I wrote a post about it, and I think it’s a fantastic option to consider for anyone thinking about picking up a Vitamix.

2011

09/20

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