Where To Find Different Saunas For Sale:
There are many different places to find saunas for sale online and off and each place has a little different buying experience.
You need to ask some of the important questions like what their warranty policy is, how shipping works (this is particularly important with saunas) what models they have in stock, can they customize the order for you and a number of other things.
This post is more like a resourceful guide that really takes a closer look at what you can expect from buying a sauna and how to shop wisely. Let's dive in...
What You Will Find On Amazon...
The Different Options Available: If you were to go to Amazon's website and type in "sauna" then you would see nearly 900 results!
These are mainly saunas but also included are sauna accessories, steam showers and other stuff but the good majority is saunas! This is probably one of the largest selections online in one single place, from what I have seen.
The Brands They Carry: There are a ton of different makes that Amazon has in stock and it is mainly because other businesses use Amazon to sell saunas because of how many people use the website. You can click on the "see more" link on the left hand side of the screen under the MODELS section to see a complete list of manufacturers/brands listed and how many listings for that model.
If you have a particular brand in mind, then you could see if they have it, click on that brand and see what they have to offer. Note: not every model is always available for a specific manufacturer on Amazon's website.
Types Of Saunas Amazon Carries:
Indoor: Amazon has a larger selection of indoor saunas than any other type of sauna. These are mainly infrared type of models and come in many different sizes, with many different makes to choose from. Some of these saunas are even Prime items, which is a strong reason to buy one through Amazon's website.
Outdoor: At the time they didn't have many outdoor models to choose from (about a dozen or so) but still had some decent ones listed. If you want an outdoor one then check out what they have listed and if you don't like any of those then I would recommend anther place to look at.
Portable: They did have a few different models to choose from but a lot had the same overall design to them and didn't really have a diverse range to choose from. Take note of the price and how well the heater works to find a decent one. Try to stay away from the models that are listed for under $100, as they tend to be less powerful and less effective overall.
Indoor Sauna
Outdoor Sauna
Portable Sauna
Shipping:
There are quite a few models that can ship out as fast as 3-5 days, which is much better than the other time frame of 1-2 weeks, which is average for the other models that aren't Prime eligible.
The Prime eligible sauna models are made up of mostly portable ones and 1-2 person indoor type models.
Below is a picture of a potential delivery hurdle and it basically states that it may be hard to get the package moved around because of how much it weighs, so be prepared for that aspect of shipping.
Warranty:
The majority of the saunas I looked at had their own type of warranty that the manufacturer offered and the typically ranged from 1-5 years and were limited type of warranties. Be sure to read the warranty info for each product to be sure what is included and what to expect.
From what I gathered, you can not alter the saunas in any way (stains, clear coats, paint, etc.) or it would void the warranty. Using an indoors only type of model outside will also void it, so be sure you "know the rules" before you buy to avoid any of these problems. You will likely have to pay for the sauna to be shipped back to the manufacturer (or wherever) if you want to fix an issue or return it.
Here are two different warranties to look at, to get a better idea of what I'm talking about:
- JNH Lifestyles Warranty (pdf)
- Radiant Saunas (pdf)
Sizes:
You can expect to find saunas that can seat anywhere from 1-6 people, for the most part. Most of the models were geared towards 1-2 people, which made up roughly half of the saunas in whole.
2 person model
4 person model
6 person model
The larger saunas that can accommodate between 5-6 people were rare to see on Amazon and less than 25 were available, so not a whole lot of choices if you were looking for larger seating capacities. There were a decent amount of saunas that could seat 3-4 people, nearly 100 in total.
Reviews: Reviews are another huge reason that people buy from Amazon and there are tons to look through, depending on the particular models you are looking at, but most of them have some sort of feedback to go off of.
JNH Lifestyle saunas seem to have the most reviews but are priced lower than some of the other competitors, so it makes sense.
Other models have a good number of ratings as well, just not as many (anywhere from 5-100+) which are still worth their weight in gold and can provide valuable insight on the sauna you are interested in. Amazon definitely had the most reviews to look through out of all of the other websites that sold saunas.
Independent Sauna Manufacturer's Websites:
There were a few different manufacturer's websites I went to, in order to see if I could order a sauna directly through them or if they only sell directly to companies and it seems to vary a bit...
Almost Heaven Saunas: They had a list of every single sauna they make, which makes sense and you are able to order directly through their website. Their pricing seems to be high though, compared to other retailers and I'm not sure why but that's what I gathered. Shipping depends on the season of the year and no real info is given, they recommend giving them a call to find out.
Finnleo Sauna: They do not sell directly from their website. You will have to use their "find a dealer" page to find someone close to you that sells their products. I did a search for my area and the closest dealer was nearly 100 miles away, so try it out and see how close a dealer is first, to see if that will work for you.
Finlandia: There is absolutely no pricing on Finlandia's website, in fact, if you go to their pricing page, it states that you will have to contact them by phone or email. They do have some great saunas to choose from and a few different options as far as pre-cut kits, prefab rooms, etc.
Amerec: These are probably at the higher end of the spectrum, as far as pricing and quality go and I'm sure they are quite expensive. I didn't get a solid number on how much they cost but by looking at them I would probably guess at $20,000 - $100,000 and up.
They do not sell their saunas directly off of their website but have buttons where you can find a dealer. The closest dealer to me was 80 miles away, not too bad but definitely not local either.
JNH Lifestyles: On their website, they have so many more saunas to choose from than is typically available at a third party seller. I was shocked! They do offer free shipping on most of their stock and I even saw a number of different models that would ship out in a matter of 2-3 days! The pricing seemed to be close to where it is offered on other retail websites but it was during the holiday season, so I'm not sure if that was a sale price.
What Home Depot Has To Offer
The Selection At Home Depot: Home Depot had a very impressive selection of different saunas to choose from, second to only Amazon! They also had a good variety of different sizes, makes, models that were offered.
They mainly had indoor models, like Amazon and they made up about 98% of the saunas they have access to. The outdoor selection was quite small, nearly non existent, besides the two outdoor models I found.
Sauna Brands They Offer At Home Depot: I counted a total of 8 different brands in the research process, not bad at all. There are many different designs to choose from, especially if you are leaning more towards an indoor model.
Different Companies use different layouts, colors when staining the wood, lighting options and accessories, which helps cater to more specific needs of an individual, so I like the selection they have.
Shipping Information I Gathered: I noticed that I had two different options with shipping. I could either have it sent directly to my house or I could have it delivered to the nearest (or most preferred) Home Depot store. I like that option because I can be much more prepared for it by running down and grabbing it myself.
If you prefer to have it delivered to your door, then it is a possibility as well, but I couldn't find any details about the delivery process, other than a couple of things reviewers chose to mention when leaving feedback. I assume a larger truck with a lift gate would deliver it, like other larger items would be.
Warranty And Questions: I like Home Depot's page layout because it it easy to see how long the manufacturer will warranty the item for. You will have to check more specific warranty information somewhere else though, seeing as how no link is provided.
The questions section on HD's website is always helpful and there are always a lot of people getting engaged in the conversation, helping to answer some of the most common questions and even some that you wouldn't think of.
Reviews: I have always liked HD's reviews because they are concise and helpful, most of the time. The saunas were no different and users reported about everything from how it performs, to setup, to delivery and everything in between. They were helpful and I recommend reading them yourself.
Only a handful of models had a good number of reviews to look through though (about 3-4 models), the other models have reviews but no more than 10 in total, which isn't much to go off of. The other models had even less than 5, so the reviews only seemed good for a small portion of the entire selection.
Different Saunas For Sale At Cosco:
Selection: When I went to Costco's website and they had a grand total of 13 different models to choose from, not a whole lot of selection but decent, considering they sale a very wide range of items and, to be honest, I was surprised to see saunas make the list!
They carried two brands, which were Almost Heaven and Dynamic brand models. These are two very reputable companies though and I was glad to see that they offered companies with great customer service and quality reputations, even if their were only two of them.
Sizes Offered: Costco did have a size for just about every household out there and you will find 1 person models, all the way up to 6 person ones. Not many of each type but one or two different models to choose from from each size.
What About Shipping? You can get nearly all of these saunas shipped to your door but the wait time is between 2 - 4 weeks from the time you place your order. This is pretty standard for saunas, except for models that are Amazon Prime eligible.
I did like how Costco laid out the details of the shipping and what you should expect, it makes it easier to be prepared and how to move it (these can weight several hundred pounds).
costco.com
It is delivered to your curb (urban areas) and comes in a few different boxes (average of 2-5). Having another person to help you move the pieces to a safe place is recommended and makes the process go faster too. Nice tips in this section on Costco's part!
Price: Even though they had a very small selection to choose from, the prices were decent and very comparable to other websites. They were less expensive than some other places that carried the sauna but did not have the best deal around either.
Reviews And Ratings I Found: The reviews were helpful and really gave a lot of insight into what you are getting and really critiqued the whole experience. I like that because you know exactly what to expect. I did notice that a few people mentioning that they received their within 7-10 days, which is excellent but differs from the information on Costco's website, so not sure which time frame is correct.
The one thing I didn't like was the fact that the reviews were the only one that the person left on Costco's website. Not that bizarre, considering that your probably not going to leave a review for most of the stuff you buy from them, but it stood out, is all.
