Buyer beware: Five dud products to avoid during end of financial year sales

While it may be a good time of year to score yourself a great deal, consumer watchdog CHOICE warns some items are best avoided.

So what shouldn't you buy? CHOICE editorial director Mark Serrels said it's important to do your research to ensure you don't end up with a dud product. Here's a run down of six products you should probably think twice about purchasing.

With expert ratings of just 59 per cent each, and price tags of $1149 and $3295 respectively, CHOICE advises consumers should wash their hands of of the Westinghouse WWT8084J7WA and Speed Queen AWNA62 washing machines.

Mr Serrels said CHOICE generally recommended front loading machines, as they were more energy efficient and did a better cleaning job. If you do happen to be a passionate member of team top loader, these two models should still be be avoided.

"Our experts said the Speed Queen model had very poor water efficiency, was expensive to run, and didn't show the time remaining on your cycle. The Westinghouse model is not very gentle on your clothes, and both machines received very poor results for their ability to remove dirt," he said.

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With an expert rating of 67 per cent and price tag of $795, those looking for a new TV should steer clear of the TCL 65P745, CHOICE warns.

Mr Serrels said while the model was one of the cheapest 65-inchers CHOICE had tested, it still wasn't worth the money.

"Our experts found this TV had very ordinary picture quality and so-so sound. If you're looking for a big screen on a budget, there are better options around," he said.

With an expert rating of 41 per cent and a price tag of $89, CHOICE advises against choosing the Nescafe Dolce Gusto Piccolo XS 9781 to deliver your morning coffee hit.

Mr Serrels said while some people preferred the convenience of pod machines over the higher performance of manual machines, this Nescafe machine was definitely not the best option - receiving the lowest score of all machines tested.

"It's difficult to use and doesn't automatically stop once the coffee is poured. Instead, you have to manually stop it at the desired amount," he said.

With an expert rating of 50 per cent and price tag of $99, buyers may be feeling filthy with themselves after picking up the Dirt Devil Cordless Vacuum DSV22G2 EC223602245.

This model scored the lowest of all cordless vacuums tested for the second year running.

"Our experts warned it does a poor job of cleaning most surfaces and has difficulty picking up dirt, sand, pet hair and pebbles. We recommend giving this model the flick," he said.

Mr Serrels said buyers should also be wary of extended warranties while doing their bargain shopping.

"In most cases, extended warranties carry the same or even weaker protections than your existing rights under the Australian Consumer Law, and aren't worth the money.

"If you feel pressured to purchase an extended warranty, simply ask 'what rights will this give me beyond the consumer law?'."

The watchdog warns it is also important to be wary of scammers.

"We've seen numerous cases of scammers setting up fake copies of major retailer websites to attempt to steal your money and personal information," Mr Serrels said.

"If you're unsure how to spot a fake website, check to see if the URL is unusual, if the prices seem too good to be true, if there's any important information missing, or if it has unusual payment methods."