Appliance Price Index: June 2026
The same refrigerator costs $1,161 more at one major retailer than another. The inaugural Appliance Price Index measures real cross-retailer prices for 104 major appliances: who discounts, who marks up, and the baseline to judge July 4th "sales" against.
Welcome to the first edition of the Appliance Price Index, a monthly report on what major appliances actually cost, measured across the big U.S. retailers. HomeGear Drip tracks live prices for 104 current major appliances, refrigerators, ranges, wall ovens, dishwashers, washers, dryers, cooktops, and over-the-range microwaves, at Home Depot, Lowe's, Best Buy, AJ Madison, Amazon, and Costco. All figures below were captured June 10, 2026.
The timing is deliberate: July 4th is one of the biggest appliance-discount windows of the year (see our guide on when appliances go on sale). This edition is the pre-sale baseline. When the "40% off" banners go up in three weeks, this is the data to check them against.
The headline
The same appliance can cost over $1,000 more depending on which store you click.
The GE Profile PVD28BYNFS, a 27.9 cu ft counter-depth French-door refrigerator, sells for $2,799 at Home Depot and $3,960 at Best Buy on the same day. That is a $1,161 spread, a 41% premium, for an identical model number.
It is not an isolated glitch. Among the models we verified in stock at two or more retailers this month:
| Model | Cheapest | Most expensive | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|
| GE Profile PVD28BYNFS refrigerator | $2,799 (Home Depot) | $3,960 (Best Buy) | $1,161 |
| Thermador PRG304WH range | $4,949 (Best Buy) | $5,699 (AJ Madison) | $750 |
| KitchenAid KCGS556ESS cooktop | $1,299 (Lowe's) | $1,620 (Best Buy) | $321 |
| Whirlpool WRX735SDHZ refrigerator | $2,700 (Best Buy) | $2,999 (Lowe's) | $299 |
| Frigidaire Gallery GRMC2273CF refrigerator | $2,241 (Best Buy) | $2,449 (Home Depot) | $208 |
| Maytag MHW6630HC washer | $900 (Best Buy) | $998 (Lowe's) | $98 |
| Bosch 800 Series SHX78CM5N dishwasher | $1,478 (Best Buy) | $1,549 (AJ Madison) | $71 |
| Whirlpool WDT750SAKZ dishwasher | $649 (Home Depot) | $679 (Lowe's) | $30 |
The most interesting pattern in the spread data: appliance pricing is bimodal. Of the 15 models verified at two or more stores, 7 are price-matched to within $7, often to the exact dollar, while the other 8 differ by $30 to $1,161. Retailers' price-matching algorithms either lock a model to the market price or miss it entirely. When they miss, the gap is rarely small: the average spread across all 15 models is $197.
The takeaway for buyers is blunt: checking one store is a coin flip. Half the time the price is the price everywhere; the other half, the first store you try may be hundreds over the market.
No store is "the cheap one"
Across the head-to-head matchups (models verified at 2+ retailers), the cheapest-price wins split almost evenly:
| Retailer | Head-to-head wins |
|---|---|
| Best Buy | 5 |
| Home Depot | 4 |
| Lowe's | 3 |
| AJ Madison | 3 |
No retailer wins even half the matchups. Best Buy posts both the single biggest overcharge ($1,161 over Home Depot on the GE Profile fridge) and the deepest discounts in our data (51% off a Samsung Bespoke). Loyalty to one store has no payoff in this market; comparison does.
Discounts by category: laundry is on sale, ranges are not
Average gap between the best street price and manufacturer MSRP, by category:
| Category | Models priced | Avg vs. MSRP | Deepest cut |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wall ovens | 3 | -17.0% | LG WSEP4727F (-35.9%) |
| Washers | 2 | -14.0% | Maytag MHW6630HC (-18.1%) |
| Dryers | 3 | -13.8% | LG DLEX4000W (-19.9%) |
| Refrigerators | 17 | -4.0% | Samsung Bespoke RF30BB6200QL (-51.5%) |
| OTR microwaves | 2 | -2.2% | GE Profile PVM9005SJSS (-21.9%) |
| Dishwashers | 6 | +4.5% | KitchenAid KDTM704KPS (-28.5%) |
| Cooktops | 6 | +4.6% | LG CBIH3613BE (-33.3%) |
| Ranges | 10 | +18.7% | Thermador PRG304WH (-10.0%) |
Two stories here:
- Laundry and wall ovens are quietly discounted double digits before any holiday banner goes up. If you need a washer, dryer, or wall oven, the pre-July-4th prices are already real discounts.
- Ranges are the most over-list category by far, averaging nearly 19% above MSRP. Several popular gas and dual-fuel ranges street well above their published list price, a mix of 2026 price increases that have outrun official list prices and plain scarcity premiums. If a July 4th sale knocks a range back to MSRP, that is a genuinely good outcome this year.
Brand patterns: KitchenAid discounts, Bosch never does
Average best-street-price vs. MSRP for brands with at least 3 priced models:
| Brand | Models priced | Avg vs. MSRP |
|---|---|---|
| KitchenAid | 6 | -13.5% |
| LG | 8 | -7.5% |
| Samsung | 4 | -4.5% |
| GE Profile | 8 | -2.6% |
| Café | 5 | +4.7% |
| Whirlpool | 4 | +18.9% |
| Bosch | 7 | +20.9% |
KitchenAid is the most discounted major brand right now, averaging 13.5% under list across six models, and LG follows. At the other end, Bosch streets at a 21% premium over its own list prices across seven models: in our data, not a single Bosch appliance sells below MSRP. Bosch's reputation for holding price is not a myth; it is measurable. If you want a Bosch dishwasher, waiting for a sitewide percent-off coupon event matters more than store choice.
The deepest discounts on the board
The biggest verified gaps between MSRP and the best in-stock price this month:
| Model | Category | MSRP | Best price | Discount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Bespoke RF30BB6200QL | Refrigerator | $3,299 | $1,600 (Best Buy) | -51.5% |
| KitchenAid KRFC704FPS | Refrigerator | $3,299 | $1,893 (Best Buy) | -42.6% |
| LG WSEP4727F | Wall oven | $2,799 | $1,795 (AJ Madison) | -35.9% |
| LG CBIH3613BE | Cooktop | $1,799 | $1,200 (Best Buy) | -33.3% |
| KitchenAid KDTM704KPS | Dishwasher | $1,399 | $1,000 (Best Buy) | -28.5% |
| GE Profile PVM9005SJSS | OTR microwave | $549 | $429 (Lowe's) | -21.9% |
| GE Profile PVD28BYNFS | Refrigerator | $3,499 | $2,799 (Home Depot) | -20.0% |
| KitchenAid KRFF577KPS | Refrigerator | $2,499 | $2,000 (Best Buy) | -20.0% |
| LG DLEX4000W | Dryer | $999 | $800 (Best Buy) | -19.9% |
| Whirlpool WDT750SAKZ | Dishwasher | $799 | $649 (Home Depot) | -18.8% |
The Samsung Bespoke at half off is the single best deal in the index: a 4-door flex French-door refrigerator with customizable panels for $1,600. Deep refrigerator discounts a month before a model-year changeover are usually clearance signals; if one of these is on your list, this is the window.
What this means for July 4th
The market average across all 49 priced models is +1.0% over MSRP (median: at list). In other words, the typical appliance is not on sale right now, which is exactly what makes this a useful baseline:
- A real July 4th deal beats the prices in this report, not a made-up "was" price. Bookmark the model you want now.
- Laundry and wall ovens are already discounted. A holiday sale stacking on top of today's -14% to -17% averages would be exceptional; do not be shocked if July 4th prices on these match what you can already get.
- Ranges have the most room to fall. At +19% over list on average, ranges are where holiday discounting has the most slack, and where a "sale" might just mean returning to MSRP.
- Always check at least three retailers. With an average cross-retailer spread of $197 and a max of $1,161, store choice can matter more than sale timing.
Set a price alert on any model and we will email you when it drops, including during the July 4th window.
Methodology
HomeGear Drip tracks prices for 104 current major home appliances across Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe's, Best Buy, AJ Madison, Costco, and eBay. Figures in this report use the lowest verified in-stock price per model as of June 10, 2026, compared against the manufacturer's list price (MSRP). This edition's stats are based on the 49 models with at least one verified in-stock price at capture time (verified prices this month came from Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe's, and AJ Madison); cross-retailer spread and win-rate stats use the 15 models verified in stock at 2 or more retailers. Discontinued models are excluded. A note on MSRP: appliance list prices are less stable than in most categories, and street prices above MSRP often reflect 2026 manufacturer price increases that have not reached published list prices. Future monthly editions will add month-over-month price movement as our daily price history accumulates.
This is proprietary HomeGear Drip data. Journalists and researchers are welcome to cite it with a link to this page; for the underlying dataset or custom cuts, contact us.