# Excalibur 5-Tray Dehydrator at Walmart?



## hippygirl (Apr 3, 2010)

I was in WM the other day to get their little half-pint canning jars (I like them better than the quilted half-pints) and noticed they have the Excalibur 5-tray for $129. I thought "well, surely it'll be cheaper directly from the company that makes it!", so off I go to their web site...

Nope...it's $199 there, so what gives? I'm wondering if this is one of those situations where a company will make a cheaper (and a lesser quality) version of their product specifically for the big box stores.

If that's the case, I'm not buying it...been bit before due to what I described (Husqvarna chainsaw at TSC), and I'm not going to make the same mistake again.

Any thoughts?

Thanks


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## MisterG (Jun 29, 2015)

You could check the model number and match to manufacture website to see. I have a 10 tray Excalibur and it's awesome. It was a direct from manufacturer though.


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## Declan (Jan 18, 2015)

The manufacturer charging more does not mean it is of different quality. They may not have the volume to spread the cost of selling direct over that Walmart has. Walmart might sell it at a loss. Who knows. If you want it, find the cheapest place on the web and have at it.


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## NEfarmgirl (Jan 27, 2009)

Do look at the model number and compare it to the manufacturer's version. I purchased a sewing machine at a big box store and when I started having problems with it not even a week after it was bought, I contacted the manufacturer. They explained that they do have different versions to satisfy the stores that will be selling the item. The quality may vary from store to store and obviously the less expensive it is, the less quality there is. I appreciated their honesty. I would assume Excaliber made a deal with WM and may have cut corners on quality to bring the price down to what WM's price point. If the manufacturer can't afford to sell it for that price, then why would they sell it to WM for much less?


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## Declan (Jan 18, 2015)

NEfarmgirl said:


> Do look at the model number and compare it to the manufacturer's version. I purchased a sewing machine at a big box store and when I started having problems with it not even a week after it was bought, I contacted the manufacturer. They explained that they do have different versions to satisfy the stores that will be selling the item. The quality may vary from store to store and obviously the less expensive it is, the less quality there is. I appreciated their honesty. I would assume Excaliber made a deal with WM and may have cut corners on quality to bring the price down to what WM's price point. If the manufacturer can't afford to sell it for that price, then why would they sell it to WM for much less?


My sister's work sells food to WM at a loss. Wally World demands that they get a certain volume at a certain price or they will not carry their product. Her employer does not want to be left out of the WM aisles because they do not want to lose market share to a competitor, so they take the hit. There is no difference in the product they sell to WM and the product the sell to grocery stores. Makes no sense to me, but it is what it is.


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## hippygirl (Apr 3, 2010)

I found a video review/comparison by the "Grow Your Own Greens" guy on YT between the one sold on Excalibur's site and the "economy" version sold at WM (and Amazon, BTW).

The biggest differences are 1)the motor on the economy has only a 5-year warranty vs a 10-year warranty on the other, 2)the insulation capability of the economy model is not as good as the other,and 3) the color of the economy is all black vs white/black on the other (aesthetics, I know).

I don't care about the color, but the motor and the dehydrator's ability to hold the heat I do care about.

I'll wait...maybe Excalibur will have a sale or something.

Thanks for the input.


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## hippygirl (Apr 3, 2010)

NEfarmgirl said:


> Do look at the model number and compare it to the manufacturer's version. I purchased a sewing machine at a big box store and when I started having problems with it not even a week after it was bought, I contacted the manufacturer. _*They explained that they do have different versions to satisfy the stores that will be selling the item.*_ The quality may vary from store to store and obviously the less expensive it is, the less quality there is. I appreciated their honesty. I would assume Excaliber made a deal with WM and may have cut corners on quality to bring the price down to what WM's price point. If the manufacturer can't afford to sell it for that price, then why would they sell it to WM for much less?


That's the very thing that happened to us with the Husqvarna chain saw...the one at TSC ended up being a POC.

Also, just in case anyone's interested in the Oster tabletop oven at WM (the $99-ish one)...same thing. When you look for the model on Oster's website, it does not exist. Oh, there's one that LOOKS like it, but it was over $150.

I hate this kind of thing...truly, I do.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Wow, what a headake.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

One experience only. Years ago I bought an Excalibur. But I wanted a bigger one so when I saw one advertises on Amazon at a good price, I order it. The original is still, after years of use, quietly chugging away while the new one rattled, hummed or whined from day one. The new one had screens that are shorter than the trays that hold them and have to be carefully placed or it leaves gaps for the produce to fall through. 
Not happy with it at all. Not the quality of the first at all.


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## BlackFeather (Jun 17, 2014)

When I worked at Radio Shack a customer would come in and say walmart has this same product for less, after they bought it from walmart they brought in the specifications, when we compared, the walmart was of lower quality. If it is cheaper there is a reason.


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## hippygirl (Apr 3, 2010)

where I want to said:


> One experience only. Years ago I bought an Excalibur. But I wanted a bigger one so when I saw one advertises on Amazon at a good price, I order it. The original is still, after years of use, quietly chugging away while the new one rattled, hummed or whined from day one. The new one had screens that are shorter than the trays that hold them and have to be carefully placed or it leaves gaps for the produce to fall through.
> Not happy with it at all. Not the quality of the first at all.


See, I don't understand why a company who manufactures a quality product would even CONSIDER making one of INFERIOR quality JUST so it can be sold at the XYZ Big Box store! I mean, I get they're trying to make as much $$$ as possible, but all it takes to ruin that product's reputation is BAD REVIEWS...get enough of those and guess what!

Someone (not knowing some companies deliberately mfg inferior models specifically for sale at XYZ BB) finds this dehydrator at XYZ BB, they go home and look up a few reviews and find that it's just the cat's meow of dehydrators, purchase it, take it home and the thing quits after a few uses. Seems to me they might have just lost that customer...and the friend she tells about, and the friends they tell about, and so on.

IMO, it's a DUMB move!

They all eventually cave in, though. I recall a few years ago reading an article entitled "The Man Who Said No to Walmart". Either WM wanted to sell Snapper lawn equipment or Snapper wanted them to (can't recall), but after hearing WM's requirements, he said no. However, I now see Snapper equipment for sale at WM...guess what I won't be buying at WM!


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

It's the way Wal-Mart does business. Force the manufacturer into making lessor quality goods without thinking of the future.

Quality seems to be in a downward spiral. Meanwhile the Walton's export their money to tax havens as if they need it.


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## Declan (Jan 18, 2015)

fishhead said:


> It's the way Wal-Mart does business. Force the manufacturer into making lessor quality goods without thinking of the future.
> 
> Quality seems to be in a downward spiral. Meanwhile the Walton's export their money to tax havens as if they need it.


Nobody is forced to shop there. They are responding to consumer demands for lower priced goods. They do not have a big profit margin on the goods they sell. They just have huge volumes of sales. We all make those decisions--what is best for our wallet may not be best for workers.


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## NEfarmgirl (Jan 27, 2009)

hippygirl said:


> The biggest differences are 1)the motor on the economy has only a 5-year warranty vs a 10-year warranty on the other, 2)the insulation capability of the economy model is not as good as the other,and 3) the color of the economy is all black vs white/black on the other (aesthetics, I know).


I assumed that these would be the things that would be compromised. The motor is not as good and they use less or cheaper materials to insulate it. I used to work for WM ages ago when Sam Walton was alive and after he passed things seemed to change a lot.


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## vinylguy (Mar 27, 2011)

Heading to town this weekend am looking to get a food processor. Any recommendations? I will be mostly using it to shred zucchini and pumpkin puree to start.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

Declan said:


> Nobody is forced to shop there. They are responding to consumer demands for lower priced goods. They do not have a big profit margin on the goods they sell. They just have huge volumes of sales. We all make those decisions--what is best for our wallet may not be best for workers.


The point of the op was that it is not clear that an item is lesser quality. It carries the same name and looks the same. The cost trimming is not obvious until it is used. 
I decided that Costco is doing the same thing and stopped buying the more expensive items there. It may be a good price but it may just be an inferior version. Can't tell.


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## hippygirl (Apr 3, 2010)

where I want to said:


> The point of the op was that it is not clear that an item is lesser quality. It carries the same name and looks the same. The cost trimming is not obvious until it is used.
> I decided that Costco is doing the same thing and stopped buying the more expensive items there. It may be a good price but it may just be an inferior version. Can't tell.


Apparently, gone are the days when you could simply go to a retailer and get the real deal when shopping for a trusted brand!

While I realize retailers with the pull and $$$ to get Company X to design an inferior version of an otherwise good product, at least PART of the onus falls squarely on Company X for agreeing to do so. 

Having said that, I also realize they (both the retailer AND the manufacturer) are responding to consumer demand for lower and lower prices, so I guess, then, the onus might just shift to the consumer, yes?

What a MESS! All I know is if John Q purchases Product A, he expects Product A to actually BE Product A, not Product B in Product A's carcass.

Now here's something to make you scratch your head...what if, for example, WM's version of Product X and Amazon's version of Product X are completely different? They might "look" identical, but if some components of one version are better than the other. All it would take would be for WM to say to the mfg "our cost has to be less than $" and Amazon to tell them "our cost has to be less than $$".

GAH! Makes my head hurt just thinking about it!


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

things like this are on ebay used all the time . check em out that's where I got mine works great .


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