Look at it from the point of view of whoever’s offering the warranty (the manufacturer or retailer or whoever). They’re expecting to take in significantly more money from people buying the warranties than they will have to spend providing repairs and replacements.
That means that, when you turn it around and look at it from the consumer’s point of view, consumers will spend more on warranties than they’ll get back. Unless you’re especially unlucky, you’ll be better off saving the money you would have spent on warranties, and using it in the rare events that you need to buy a replacement or pay for repairs.
As a rule of thumb, you should almost never purchase insurance/warranties for something you could easily afford to replace or repair.
My recent experience was consistent with the “weighty” advice above.
We had a 36" tube TV. Must have weighed 300#. No way I wanted to have to haul that sucker out of the basement should it need to be repaired.
Bought the warranty, which was fortunate, because the set turned out to be a lemon. After 3 service calls over 2 years, they gave us credit for the full purchase price towards a new TV. So now we have a nice slim 40" flat-panel - and no extended warrantee.
We’ve been very happy to have the warranty on certain items - Playstation, XBox, DVD players, vacuum cleaners - I know all of them have been back for sure. TVs we’ve had good luck with not needing repair work done. The way the retailers make money off the warrenty is both by selling them AND by having the people who bought them not make use of them when their stuff breaks. In a lot of cases, it isn’t that the stuff isn’t breaking, its that the person is forgetting (or not bothering) to use the warranty they bought.
Extended warranties are a gamble where the odds are always in favor of the house(retailer). They will consistently take in more than they pay out. Much like any insurance you buy.
The difference being when it comes to home/auto/health insurance you are at the mercy of the companies whether you like it or not since being caught without insurance when you need it can royally screw you over for many years financially.
You’re paying for protection you literally can not afford to not have.
Insurance on home electronics and appliances is a losing gamble and one you CAN afford not to have. You may have that once or twice occurance when an extended warranty can help bail you out but if you’re in the habit of buying them on a lot of your items you will soon find yourself paying in much more than they ever pay out.
Well, if we’re going there …
WARRANTY! NOT WARRANTEE! WARRANTY! WARRANTY! WARRANTY!