Recently, there was a post that was somewhat of an anti-advice, where I described, a little half-seriously and a little seriously, situations in which the purchase of a home safe or an office safe causes more trouble than benefits. Today, we are going to try to focus a little more briefly on the most common and at the same time most troublesome mistakes that can be made when choosing and buying a safe for a home or an office. I forewarn you, the main bad of this text is the civilisation boon of the online shop, although, and I point this out emphatically, if you already want to buy online, it's best with us. We have very competitive prices 😊. Now to the substance.
Mistake 1 – rashness
Suddenly it's the devil, as the folk proverb goes. In this all-too-consumerist capitalism, we all too often make the decision to spend money on impulse and emotion. This is also the case with safes, and it is not good. Buying a home safe is a serious decision, not even because a home safe costs money, but because this device is permanently connected to the interior of your home. It is therefore definitely better to give the purchase of a safe some thought.
Buying a safe in an online shop
It is with some perversity that I include a subsection on buying a safe online here. It is not at all difficult to buy a safe in an online shop, and you can also choose this sales channel with us. There are numerous models available, from which you can choose the most suitable one, add it to your shopping cart, choose the form of payment, delivery and you're done. What's wrong with that?
Advice
Basically nothing, buying a safe in an online shop is deprived of an ingredient that we pride ourselves on and that many of our customers greatly appreciate – direct contact with an experienced advisor whose aim is not to push anything on you. That's something you can do for yourself 😊. The advisors' aim is to help you choose an appliance whose purchase will meet your needs, and that makes a huge difference.
The advisor will first show you our range in terms of safes that will best meet your needs. Depending on what you need the safe for:
• devices designed to store corporate or personal documents, usually fireproof safes or armoured metal cabinets,
• home safes, where you can store jewellery, valuables, watches or a few valuable items you have a fondness for, such as albums, photographs, etc,
• cabinets for long guns and some ammunition, a very popular topic lately.
Mistake 2 – price works wonders
In a way, the ease with which we buy various items online every day has resulted in the habit of sorting products according to the filter of the lowest regular price, and if a promotion hits along the way, then it is perfect. And rightly so in principle, as long as you are able to make a comparison of equivalent products efficiently and competently.
Example: two home safes, one costs PLN 2000, the other PLN 12000. On the so-called peasant's reasoning, there is no way that these are similar home safes in any respect, except perhaps in external size. There must be such a significant difference between them that the regular price of one is several times the price of the other.
You can read about buying a safe in a supermarket in our other article.
A home safe on offer – meaning what?
Meanwhile, not a day goes by that we don't hear the question ‘and how much do home safes cost at your store?’ Well, how much can they cost? From PLN 2000 to 200,000 😊. Sounds humorous but that's exactly what it is. You can find home safes of different sizes, in different resistance grades and providing different levels of security. There are fireproof safes and there are home safes made to special order according to customers' specifications.
Hence the not-so-revealing conclusion that a safe is not the same as a safe, and so our range includes hundreds, if not thousands of safes. There are models for installation in cabinets, there are fire-resistant safes and there are powerful armoured cash-boxes. To make things more cheerful, all models can be personalised, you can insert an electronic lock, choose a non-standard colour or an internal safe.
The regular price applies as a starting point for discussion, while the final price depends on the configuration. This is the undoubted advantage of the old-fashioned boon of a stationary shop and a frank conversation with someone who knows home safes inside out.
Read further: Is a home safe for everyone?
Mistake 3 – taking shortcuts
Living in a digital world makes us lazy and we increasingly take shortcuts. How does this apply to safes? There is a percentage of customers who take the purchase of a safe too lightly. They buy it, pay for it and it's done. While in the case of a product such as a metal cabinet for long guns, where – let's agree – there is nothing to dwell on, they are available in a variety of sizes, but their weight rarely exceeds 100-150 kg, when buying a safe in which you want to store a lot of valuables or cash, the choice of both the goods themselves and the accompanying circumstances should be a conscious one.
What might this result in?
For example, a safe that appears to be a harmless little piece of furniture on the website may in fact turn out to be not only too large and heavy, but also unsuitable for installation in its intended location. It may also be the case that the electronic lock is not as hassle-free as the chatbot in the online shop promised, and so on.
In order to make your safe purchase an informed one, it is a good idea to stop for a moment, think properly about what the device will be used for, what you will store in it, what you are concerned about, what size and weight it should be, where and how it should be installed.
Mistake 4 – a safe that is not fit for purpose
We have touched on the subject of adequately defining what home safes are used for at all in many places on this website. Contrary to appearances, many customers do not know how to answer such questions with 100% certainty and there is nothing surprising about this. If someone hasn't heard much about safes before, so much as from a search engine, then it is likely that buying a safe that meets most needs may turn out to be a random choice.
Safes, whether safes for a house or an office, are a specialist subject, still heavily niche, and the manufacturers available on the market rarely share their knowledge in as accessible and hassle-free a way as we do 😊.
Example
It is therefore easy to misfit a safe. For example: safes intended for company documents, i.e. items that need to be guarded from burning rather than theft, should have a fire-resistance certificate, even at the expense of burglary protection class. On the other hand, if you want to store jewellery, valuables, expensive items such as gold bars, watches, collectibles, etc. in a safe, security will be ensured primarily by a high burglary protection class.
How to avoid this mistake?
If you search, whether in the online shop resources or in conversation with an advisor, for a safe according to your precise requirements, this will go fairly quickly. Both the categories in the online shop and the involvement of an experienced adviser will help you comb through the wide range of products and find those available for your criteria. It is the latter method that I highly recommend, as long as you approach the conversation with an open mind and honesty.
Mistake 5 – delivery
As we are orbiting around online shopping it is worth mentioning delivery and installation. While you can make the purchase of a safe quick and easy, realise that you will need cooperation from your side for delivery and installation to go smoothly.
Why? Safes, especially fireproof safes, are a group of heavy and bulky products. It is a physical challenge for an average person to lift and anchor a safe weighing around 100 kg by themselves. For this reason, it is worth using the service offered by the supplier and entrusting him with setting up the safe at the indicated location.
What are the risks?
Goods being a heavy steel cuboid is a potential danger. This applies not only to the location, where carelessness can result in damage to the floor, stairs, railings or the safe itself. In extreme cases, you could harm yourself or outsiders.
How should you prepare for this?
In order for the delivery and installation to go smoothly, you first need to check and give us some information:
• Is it possible to drive a van under the building?
• On which floor is the safe to be installed?
• Is there a lift? If so: what is the load capacity of the lift, can it be accessed by pallet truck from the car park or are there any stairs along the way?
• Will the safe even fit in the chosen location?
• Are there any installations not running through there: water, electricity, gas? Is there underfloor heating?
Knowing the answers to these questions, we price the service individually.
Summary
The 5 deadly sins when buying a safe seem like an insignificant number. However, disregarding even one point can pose a serious problem in the future. In order to avoid unnecessary stress and efficiently buy the optimum safe, it is best to discuss the matter with a professional who is not unfamiliar with the handling of safes, locks, delivery nuances and even a certain wisdom resulting from many years of experience.
