Asking for a Discount from Dealers

DistortedVision

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Feb 18, 2008
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Hi,

I'd just like to share my experiences for my most recent hifi purchase which was today. I've been looking to upgrade the tonearm of my turntable to a SME IV for a while now. I emailed several dealers to see what their best prices were and managed to get one down to £1040 from the RRP of £1336. I was really pleased with this and the dealer I bought from was really friendly and helpful.

However, alot of the dealers I contacted were really annoyed that I even dared asked for a discount. One email I got was borderline abusive and he said that it was because of people like me that there would be no high street dealers left. I was wondering if anyone else has come across this attitude? Do you feel its reasonable to ask for a discount when your spending alot of money? I felt it was fully justified in asking for a discount. I knew what I wanted, I wasn't taking their time and using their facilities to demo the product. So the way I see it is why should I pay full RRP?

Some of you may disagree with me but I'd be interested to hear about your experiences and your views.

Cheers!
 

roger06

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To me, the price of absolutely everything is negotiable. There's no harm in asking, as long as you're polite etc and don't get upset if refused.

I think you must have caught that dealer in question on a bad day - let's face it they do get clobbered don't they ? by a lot of people who'll happily take their time and advice and then buy cheaper online. Also, the news about the UK economy seems to get worse by the day and I'd hardly call any hi fi retailing business recession-proof so they've got a lot to worry about.

I haven't bought any hi fi kit recently but have just rennovated a house with new kitchen, bathroom .. you name it. We did not pay full price for one single item - and there was no animosity at all by the sellers. Let's face it - if they don't want to sell at a price there's no one forcing them to. It's a free market and all businesses must adapt to threats such as competition and the Internet etc. Oh, and there's about a 40% margin on hi fi kit so there's certainly room for negotiation.

But again, I do sympathise as someone who runs two businesses - I spoke to a local dealer when looking for my Pana plasma and he could not even buy them for the price offered on line, so had no hope of competing.
 

roger06

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Oh, and I would add that had you talked to the dealer face-to-face you'd have had a different response. I'd get v pee'd off if I received email from strangers asking for discounts before even entering into a dialogue...
 

hammill

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I'm with you. You are entitled to ask any vendor of any product for a discount. They are entitled to say "we don't discount" but I would not be interested in their services if they were abusive about it.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
bargaining is very normal, i dont think there is anything bad in it,say nothing of breaking the market order.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
I asked when buying the kit in my sig and got about 10% knocked off the price from Sevenoaks. I'd rather listen to the kit andÿnegotiateÿa price than listen and then buy online. I did check what prices things were online, but didn't request a per item price match. I reckon they came within a 10 or 20 quid of the price I could have got things online for and that the audition was worth that in terms of value to me. Particularly as I ended up with different kit after listening.

I've asked for price matches in jessops the camera shop half a dozen times or more and always got them. I think it is fairer to ask than to use their services and then buy from someone elseÿ
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Couldn't agree more. It's a choice on both sides. I've got a great relationship with the dealer I first bought from at a good discount and he's happy to be making a margin. I know because I specifically asked him if he'd be happy and would still make a profit and he said absolutely yes.

So anyone being rude to you is just guaranteeing that in the recession we're now in, they will go bust quickest. Their loss, not yours. The High Street do not need arrogant unflexable dealers. There is more in a purchase than just the price, but in the current climate, it's probably the single biggest factor!
 

professorhat

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JohnDuncan:professorhat:
As my dear old Mum used to say, "If you don't ask, you don't get". Wise words.

Mine used to say "aye ye'd mak' a guid lookin' lassie".
Bless her. Mum's always right eh?
 

chebby

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Jun 2, 2008
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So what should the dealer give you less of in return?

Less free time in the dem-room? No free home dems? No free delivery/set-up? Less guarantee period? Less for trade-ins/commission sales of your old equipment? Reducing the returns period? Less politeness to anorak time-wasters who only want to prove they have read more hifi mags than you that month? No free coffee? No taking all the heavy boxes to your car? No letting you use the staff toilet? No free minor repairs - despite being outside of warranty - because they value keeping you as a customer? No hours on the phone arguing with recalcitrant manufacturers on your behalf? No sending you a spare 1.27mm allen key free in the post to adjust your arm cueing mechanism? No ages spent soldering leads/fitting & aligning cartridges etc whilst you are 'busy' having a pint around the corner, all included in the basic price of the new cartridge/leads etc.

I have either witnessed or benefitted from all these myself. Despite our minor moans about our dealers they are saints sometimes. I would not and could not do what they have to.

Take builders for instance. (I have 6 weeks of recent experience of them doing up the back of our house) Should I say at the end of the project.. "Great job guys, now will you knock off 10 percent for cash?" You can imagine the response that would get!
 

professorhat

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Well, builders are different as you agree a price before work is completed and they increase it at the end due to all the things that went wrong.
emotion-4.gif

But when you're purchasing from a dealer, what's the harm in asking for a discount? I always ask what deal they can do me and I've also done it before and then pushed a little bit more and they've said they can't go that low, and cheerfully I've responded, "Well, had to try!". There's no animosity as long as you do it playfully. No dealer is ever going to go lower than his agreed margins and most expect a bit of haggling.
Of course that doesn't mean I'm suggesting you go in there, demand a price and then get angry and rude when they won't do it - that's no way to go about it.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
chebby: Take builders for instance. (I have 6 weeks of recent experience of them doing up the back of our house) Should I say at the end of the project.. "Great job guys, now will you knock off 10 percent for cash?" You can imagine the response that would get!

well actually if it meant them avoiding vat, you'd be surprised; but more realistically, when they gave you your quote, you would say, "great, so if i promise you the work and pay cash will you give me 10% discount"

and of course you'd have penalty clauses in the work like "miss the 6 week deadline, and lose 5%".
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Hands up all those on here after a weeks work would want 10-15% deducted from their wages the boss asked for?

Hmm, can't see no hands.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
I honestly think you could go as far as say: 'dealers that will not negotiate at all are the reason you're seeing less and less high-street dealers.

*drumdroll* The internet is a fact of life now. Sure dealer prices are a bit higher, because they offer more service. But if I see something online for 400 and in a store for 600 I will point out to the salesman that it's 400 online. If he, at this point, does not go down in his own price (to say 500) but starts going all negative about the internet than he's the one killing his own profit, not me.

The internet is here to stay.. Dealers adapt or get put out of business. It's just the way it is. Go adapt, use the internet, play your unique selling points. Don't blame the customer (the old fashioned 'never bite the hand that feeds you') or the internetdealers.

Hurray for the 21st century, now make it work ;)
 
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Anonymous

Guest
When bargaining you should occasionally see things from the other persons perspective. You should leave the other party enough pride and margin for him to be happy to see you again. Rip the back out of the deal and there will be no goodwill left if you experience problems.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
murphsy:
I honestly think you could go as far as say: 'dealers that will not negotiate at all are the reason you're seeing less and less high-street dealers.

*drumdroll* The internet is a fact of life now. Sure dealer prices are a bit higher, because they offer more service. But if I see something online for 400 and in a store for 600 I will point out to the salesman that it's 400 online. If he, at this point, does not go down in his own price (to say 500) but starts going all negative about the internet than he's the one killing his own profit, not me.

Thank you!!! I wholeheartedly agree with that statement... I'm exactly the same, if i know i can get it cheaper online i will always raise the point (politely) that its more overpriced than it should be to the salesperson as opposed to online, and ask why wont they compete (in a friendly way of course) The response is usually along the lines of ...It's not negotiable mate, the price you see is what you have to pay basically. I'm a firm believer in everything's negotiable, and if you don't ask, you don't get and i will continue to be that way!!

While i obviously realise these major retail sellers (i.e. shops like currys, dixons etc) have margins to uphold, they also have much, much bigger stock levels than say high street shops and therefore should bend a little or in some cases considerably. Like as mentioned above, It's not fair them blaming us with statements such as "it's people like you, or, it's the internet that are driving us out of business, or, we can't compete with the internet because of overheads".... That is just an excuse, they're multi-million pound organisations. And let's face it, how many people ACTUALLY ask for a better price or a discount when they go into one of these stores... not many, only the people who know what they're looking for will bother. For the most part, most people are happy to look at the price tag and pick the best one that fits their budget, either that or get it on finance. The internet is an advancement of technology and convenience, they should accept it and adjust. And i feel it's that attitude, or lack of it that WILL kill their sales inevitably whether they realise it or not, and hence, will force me to deal with faceless internet sites.

Don't get me wrong, I WOULD rather have some experienced salesperson guiding me to the right decision on what to buy, but not if it means i have to pay 25%+ more for the privilige, plus, i dont know how they get the job sometimes, 9 times out of 10, they're bits of kids who appear to know nothing. It's almost as if what they're saying is a textbook quote from what they've been told to say and rhymeing off the spec sheet, not what they actually know!

Therefore, it looks set that all my future sales will be guaranteed as bought online, not in a rip-off store with staff who aren't willing to budge.
 
T

the record spot

Guest
JohnDuncan:professorhat:
As my dear old Mum used to say, "If you don't ask, you don't get". Wise words.

Mine used to say "aye ye'd mak' a guid lookin' lassie".

Good Presbyterian upbringing there eh JD?!
 

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