Buying Service

Good Shepherd Youth & Family Service's Buying Service has operated for more than 20 years.

The program grew out of a desire to find the very best prices on essential household items for people on low incomes - people who might otherwise find it hard to purchase the products they need to prepare food, wash clothes, fit out their homes and live healthy lives.

The Buying Service is a free telephone service which links people on low incomes to retailers trading in goods such as washing machines, fridges, furniture, beds, televisions and asthma pumps.

Eligible consumers - those receiving income support or with a healthcare or concession card - are able to ring the service with the make and model number of a product they need and receive information and advice about that product's quality, reliability and energy efficiency.

Buying Service staff can also provide advice on the suitability of certain products for the elderly and people with a disability.

The service has developed strong links with a network of retailers and relies on an open and trusting relationship with those retailers. It does not promote a competitive attitude between the retailers for the business of Buying Service clients: it simply seeks the lowest price, and connects the consumer to the retailer with that lowest price for the sale to occur.

The service might save a consumer up to 35% on a washing machine; up to 30% on a vacuum cleaner; or up to 18% on a gas water heater.

The Buying Service can also refer people to the microfinance loans program to ensure the most vulnerable in our community have an opportunity to purchase items many of us take for granted.