From Kev @ coffeeblog. How Covid Made Home Espresso Expensive

I really like coffee subscriptions!  I've tried them for other things in the past, razors (I have a beard now, so don't need that one any more), supplements, oh and cat food, for the cats though, not for me ;-).  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Hello fellow coffee botherer :-) Kev here from coffeeblog.co.uk,  Do you ever really, like REALLY wish you could create a time machine - or do some kind of deep meditation in which you connect with a younger version of yourself, and give yourself some key life advice? Well, if you had considered buying an espresso machine in the not too distant past, and you decided to put off that decision, that's something you may well wish you could go back and reverse ;-). The reason for that is simply that for a while now, espresso machines - and coffee machines in general, in fact most things in general, are harder to get hold of. Supply and demand has flipped in most industries, and when that happens, deals disappear.  I've seen people ranting on forums and so on about ruthless companies putting their prices up, and this is what I'm talking to here. This is simply that some of the most popular coffee machines have usually been available on offer - because retailers were usually fighting for the sale - but now it's the other way around, retailers have limited access to stock, consumers are fighting for the available stock, and when that's the case, it doesn't make sense for retailers to cut their margins.  This is certainly the case with the Sage Barista Express, and the Sage Bambino Plus.  When I wrote my Sage Barista Express review, you could get it on offer from around £400 - which is £200 below RRP. Since then, you're very lucky if you can save even a few quid on it. Sage Appliances do have the odd offer, as do AO.com - but they're few and far between at the moment, and they don't seem to last long, probably because they sell out not long after launching the offer. It's a similar case with the Sage Bambino Plus, this machine (which I'm really fond of by the way, it's my home espresso machine at the moment when I'm not using other machines for review) has a RRP of a few pennies short of £400 - but you could get hold of it for as little as around half this price from time to time, and you could nearly always get it for £300. Again, it's worth checking Sage Appliances to see if they have a deal on, and ao.com, but if you do find this on offer, you're very lucky! The one company who have impressed me since the first lock down, is Gaggia Direct.  Gaggia Direct (Caffeshop Ltd) are the sole UK distributor for Gaggia Milan. Raj, the boss, was the MD of Gaggia UK before Philips bought Gaggia - and he fought tooth & nail to save Gaggia in the UK, and to save the jobs of the Gaggia UK team - and over a decade longer, they're still going strong.  Anyway, what I've noticed with Gaggia UK, is that although they've regularly sold out of their flagship Gaggia Classic Pro, they've never changed the price. The Classic has an RRP of £425, but Gaggia UK have always sold it for £399 (except for the new coloured machines which sell at £425).  There's no doubt they could have nudged the price up a bit, knowing that people who want decent coffee at home have little option but to pay the price that is being asked of the few remaining machines in stock (which is usually the case at the moment). They could have very easily just dropped the £399 and sold them at the full RRP until things go back to normal (if they ever do).  But they didn't, and I think they deserve praise for that - even though I know from speaking to Raj that every shipment of machines they get sells out practically before they can get them into the warehouse! But there is one way you may be able to save some money on a coffee machine - and/or anything else for that matter, and that's the honey browser extension. I know - many people will be telling me I'm really late to the game on this ;-), but I thought honey was one of them websites that would require history removal soon after accessing - not that I know anything about that kind of caper of course.  However, my son recently educated me to the fact that the honey browser app scours the web for coupons at the time you're placing your order, and automatically applies the codes.  He showed me it in action when he was renewing his phone with 02, upgrading to a new smartphone, for doing nothing (installing the extension) he saved £20 on his up front payment. So I tried it, and saved a fiver on something I was about to pay the full price for, I was impressed, but at the same time annoyed I'd not used this thing ages ago ;-). I do believe (thanks to intel from my fellow coffee botherers) that if you're buying an espresso machine, or bean to cup coffee machine, and if you use the honey app, that there is a saving to be had on many espresso machines and coffee grinders,  By the way, if you ever do spot a great deal that you think your fellow coffee botherers may benefit from, please send it to me and I'll share it. Thanks  again, Kev coffeeblog.co.uk cworks.co.uk Follow me on Twitter Follow me on Instagram Follow me on Facebook Subscribe to my YouTube Channel Become an Accreddited Coffee Botherer

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