Bargain huntings

EOFY best buys: Member exclusive

We reveal the best from our tests to help you shop smart in the sales.
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Last updated: 13 Jun 2024
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It’s that wonderful time of year when you start thinking about how much fun it’s going to be to file your tax return.

But fortunately there’s something to take your mind off the looming paperwork: the end of financial year (EOFY) sales.

If you do your research you can pick up a superior product for a song

Retailers are keen to offload their old stock and shoppers are keen to nab a bargain. It’s a win for both parties – as long as your hot deal doesn’t turn out to be a discount disappointment.

There are definitely some EOFY buys that we suggest you avoid, but you can often find sales on products that CHOICE experts rate highly, so if you do your research you can pick up a superior product for a song.

Here are some EOFY sales tips for savvy shoppers to help you get the best deal for your dollar. Plus, exclusively for CHOICE members, we’ll reveal which products are worth your hard-earned money.

If you just want to get straight to the best products, you can jump to the results now.

Brands and models can vary wildly in quality, so it pays to do your research.

Smart shopping tips to live by

Before you hit the sales with credit cards blazing, there are some key things to keep in mind. 

1. Expensive don’t always mean better

Our product test results regularly disprove the age-old adage that ‘you get what you pay for’. Our experts often see pricey products underperform, while cheaper, lesser-known ones shine. 

That’s why it pays to do your homework and check our reviews. Head to our list of overpriced and underperforming products for further proof of expensive fails.

2. Good brands sometimes make poor products 

It’s another unexpected result our experts see all the time in our tests. A brand can boast some of the best performing products in a category… and some terrible ones too. 

It all depends on the build quality and design of each product, which is why individual product reviews are so vital. 

3. Don’t believe everything you read

Sure, one site is offering 20% off its usual price, but was it more expensive to start with compared to others? 

Before you ‘add to cart’, it’s worth playing the field and sizing up the best deal and assessing delivery costs and times too. 

Here’s what you need to know for the 2024 EOFY sales.  

The best from our tests: What to buy in the EOFY sales

We test hundreds of products in our labs each year, so our experts know what’s worth spending your money on.

A CHOICE membership can save you money by helping you avoid overpriced duds and choose the best products for your budget.

If you’re not a member, join CHOICE to access thousands of independent reviews.

Only CHOICE members have access to all our expert, independent tests.

Or if you’re already a CHOICE member, you can see the top-rated products for each category in one easy-to-read rundown below.

Pru

I came to CHOICE in March 2019 after working as an editor on many of Australia's leading food and lifestyle titles. As CHOICE's audience and engagement editor, my job is to bring the unique stories, surprising facts and the personalities behind CHOICE's data and research to our readers. I spend a lot of my time in our labs and offices speaking to our testers and experts to find those gems of information that resonate with Australian consumers and help them make the best decisions.  You can find me on LinkedIn.

I came to CHOICE in March 2019 after working as an editor on many of Australia's leading food and lifestyle titles. As CHOICE's audience and engagement editor, my job is to bring the unique stories, surprising facts and the personalities behind CHOICE's data and research to our readers. I spend a lot of my time in our labs and offices speaking to our testers and experts to find those gems of information that resonate with Australian consumers and help them make the best decisions.  You can find me on LinkedIn.

Alice

I'm a content creator and marketer here at CHOICE – which basically just means that I write stuff. CHOICE's testing is so comprehensive that we publish vast amounts of data on all the products we test. We know that not everyone likes to wade through numbers to find the best product, so my job is to take the data and translate it into something more easily digestible for readers who are time-poor or just want to know the best products to buy – and which to avoid. I also get to dream up fun ways of taste-testing products, like the Tim Tam challenge and the Democracy Sausage taste test. I write about all kinds of things, from health insurance to heaters and BBQs to bargain-hunting, so each day is different and I'm lucky that I get to learn about all the different things CHOICE does to help consumers.

I'm a content creator and marketer here at CHOICE – which basically just means that I write stuff. CHOICE's testing is so comprehensive that we publish vast amounts of data on all the products we test. We know that not everyone likes to wade through numbers to find the best product, so my job is to take the data and translate it into something more easily digestible for readers who are time-poor or just want to know the best products to buy – and which to avoid. I also get to dream up fun ways of taste-testing products, like the Tim Tam challenge and the Democracy Sausage taste test. I write about all kinds of things, from health insurance to heaters and BBQs to bargain-hunting, so each day is different and I'm lucky that I get to learn about all the different things CHOICE does to help consumers.

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