Hot Tub Spa Prices

How to find the best hot tub spa prices

The Internet is a fast and efficient comparison shopping tool for many products, but unfortunately, hot tubs are not one of them. Comparing hot tub spa prices online requires a whole lot of legwork. make that fingerwork, on the part of the buyer. Even the normally stalwart ConsumerSearch.com begins their very outdated hot tub review section by rebuking the evasiveness and gimmickry of the hot tub industry. For a headache-free way to compare hot tub spa prices, we offer these suggestions.

What's the difference between a hot tub and a spa?

Knowing the answer to this question before you look at hot tub spa prices is probably a good idea. Though these two terms are often used together, they're not exactly the same thing. The difference is minimal: hot tubs are traditionally made from wood, while spas are more modern hot tubs made from acrylic or fiberglass.

Ironically, the term spa is actually the older one. It derives from the town of Spa in Belgium, where illnesses were treated in the medieval era by drinking the town's iron-rich mineral spring water. When medicinal bathing took hold in England during the 16th century, the name Spa was used for its evocation of the well-known medicinal waters.

Today, because their purposes are virtually identical, we often split the difference and use the phrase hot tub spa. However, we advise against drinking your hot tub spa water.

How to compare hot tub spa prices

There are several large comparison shopping clearinghouse sites online, but in the realm of hot tub spa prices, simply put, they suck. Most hot tub spas are listed with only a single price from one seller. In the rare cases where two hot tub spa prices are shown, the costs are so divergent that your natural suspicion is someone somewhere is trying to rip you off. This is probably true.

Of all the hot tub spa price comparison sites online, we select Epinions as the best simply because they offer consumer reviews for a selection of over 300 different hot tub spa models. The problem? Every time you click "compare prices" at Epinions, the only listing they provide is for eBay. This will quickly have you screaming "Egads!" in frustration. But at least their hot tub spa reviews will keep you from choosing a hot tub company with nonexistent customer service.

Clearly, other means of acquiring competitive hot tub spa prices are in order.

One way is soliciting a hot tub spa price quote directly from the manufacturer. One site that allows you to do this is SpaManufacturers.com. This site also provides basic design illustrations of the hot tub spas they're selling.

Another smart way to research hot tubs is by purchasing an industry magazine. A selection of these can be found at www.poolspaliving.com/shop/shop.asp. We recommend buying the latest edition of America's Top Hot Tubs & Spas. For $15, you get objective reviews of the leading hot tub spas available.

If you do find a hot tub spa you like, skip over to www.spadepot.com(that's Spa Depot, not Spade Pot) and see if they carry that model. They promise to beat anyone's hot tub spa price by $50. If you're buying locally it's probably not worth it, but $50 is $50 and their shipping is free.

Finally, before you buy a hot tub, get at least three different price quotes for that model to make sure the hot tub spa price you're paying is a competitive one.

More information on hot tubs