Best Negotiation Technique

[BigDave]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I can get a husky chainsaw at Lowes now. The cost is 75% of what i paid for mine from a dealer. I'd bet it works just as good as mine. )</font>

Bad example...a real bad example.

If you bought a Husky product from Lowes, then you paid full retail. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif In fact you missed out on the typical Husky corp sales programs that the small dealers participate in. I have purchased 5 Husky items over the past 3 years and the ones sold at both Lowes and at my dealer were always on sale and cheaper via a Husky promotion at the dealer only. The last saw I purchased: I got $70 off(Husky promo), 25ft of chain(Husky promo), a case of bar oil(dealer's buy-in for Husky promo), & a full tank of gas(dealer's practice). I would never buy a Husky product from Lowes or a John Deere or Honda product from Home Depot. You pay full retail, no gas, no demo, just lousy service.

 

[Egon]

Big Dave:

Those Dealer promotions are nice things. Lock in a price and don't have to negotiate which I can not do anyway.

Best of all when I replaced my previous Husky51 the promotions allowed me to step several sizes in saws to a 365.

For some reason I really don't like shopping at any of the large chain stores.

Egon

 

[r0GuE]

When I saw the price on the 350, my jaw dropped. It was $100 less than i paid at the dealer a few months earlier. I called my dealer to see how they did this. He said volume. Oh well. I agree his service was better, he brought it to me on his way home when I called him to buy it back then.
Still.. not such a bad example.

 

[BillyP]

When I need a new Husky, I get my wife to pick me up one. She's a supervisor for the company that builds them /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( does the customer have to sit and wait while a salesman pulls out the books, looks up the prices, takes a couple of phone calls and bangs around on a calculator before you have this price? )</font>

I agree with you completely that the price should be marked on the tractor, but since this is business which is being driven by profit, I'd suggest that the price on the tractor would never be bottom-line price. It might start out that way, but after awhile, when the dealer kept getting folks trying to get him to lower his prices, he'd just go out and raise the prices so he could satisfy the "negotiator" syndrome by being able to come off the posted "bottom-line" price. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif I believe the best possible situation is to be a well-informed buyer and go into the dealership knowing what you will pay.

In my case, I went into the dealership and told the owner I wanted a New Holland TC45D, 16LA loader, and a single remote hydraulic adapter. I told him I thought the price should be no more than $22,000-$22,500. ...out comes the books and calculator. I sat there watching him doing all the things you mentioned (including a phone call to the insurance guy). In the end, he said the tractor's price was $22,400 and there was a Fort Worth Stock Show discount of another $500 if I could wait two weeks. That brought the price down to $21,900. What could I say? At $100 below what I'd given him as my bottom price, all I could say was, "Where do I sign?" /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif So my experience is that I was successful by taking the "offense" and letting the dealer see if he could match my offered price. Now, had I asked him for some really rediculous price, he'd probably have reacted to me totally different.

My best advice is do your homework, make an offer up front, let the dealer make a live-able profit, and thank him over and over every time he does warranty work for you even though you know he has to do the job. Also, sending your friends to him and buying other stuff from him doesn't hurt either. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[icat]

Great responses by all. Interesting to note how different the perceptions are of dealer profits.

I guess I should start by apologizing for so late of a response, but I've been out driving the new L3130 HST at the property. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Since it was just delivered on Thursday, my buying experience is perhaps the most recent.

I, as others have mentioned, expect the dealer to make a fair profit. The question of course is what is fair. In my business I also sell a commodity - computers. However, if I never sold another computer as long as I live I'd still be in business. Why, because of our service department. As a matter of fact, we often recommend our clients purchase from Dell because they do not need our systems. Especially if the customer is after the lowest priced system they can find. If that's what they want (and need), then we send them to Dell. They can sell on volume, I can't. We come in after the customer buys the Dell, set up the system and connect them to their network, and generally make MORE profit than Dell did on the sale. Service is the key profit generator. I believe it's the same in car, boat, and tractors as well.

However, in tractors, if a dealer doesn't make the sell he stands to loose the service component as well. So it's a tight line that the dealer has to walk. For me, the most important part of the transaction is (and was) my comfort level with the dealer. I sent out bid request to 5 different dealers within a 75 mile radius of my home. I did not buy from the lowest priced dealer (very uncomfortable with their sales staff). I also did not buy from the highest priced dealer (about $1000 more than my dealer - a bit too fair). That left three dealers in the running and I found high points at all of them. There wasn't $500 total between each, so it wasn't price at that point. I visited two of the dealers and found someone I trusted right off the bat at the second dealer - they got the sale. Most important selling fact was that the dealer (Donald at Rioux Farm in El Campo) took the time to educate me on the purchase, discuss my choices, and steer me away from errors. As a result, I've been extremly satisfied with my purchase and I'm recommending the dealer every chance I get.

So, to answer the original question - I sent out a request for bid from 5 dealers and then visited with each. Then went with the best dealer with at a fair profit.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Bird(and others)- I have a lot of respect for you, your knowledge, and opinions. Your # of posts and your persistency has caused me to reevaluate my tiller situation. I think I'll call the dealer Tuesday and upgrade to the 50" rc because I can always make the 50" smaller but it's hard to make the 40" bigger. I'm still kinda stuck on the rc feature, though. But then, on the other hand, if I went with a no-frills 60" or so..........I could add the hydraulic blade to the front ..............................then I could sell my plow truck ...........no, just hold on a minute. Let's not get too carried away yet.

Funny funny thing here. I found out why the CFO has been so willing with this whole tractor project (she is even justifying it to my mother.) All along, I thought her reasoning was to get the yard she always wanted with minimal work on her part (she is a VERY hard worker.), and that she was really concerned about my poor health. NOT! I'm here to tell you guys (and gals) that her real motivation was be able to purchase this dang-fangled, whiz-bang, new computerized stitcher machine for her new sewing room. And she thinks a sewing machine is worth $7500.00. Man oh man, do I need to get educated. She slipped that one right past me. OUCH!!!!
Oh well, life goes on.
Happy stitching and thanx again Bird. (I don't have all the answers and the mind DOES work better when it is OPEN.)

I an SSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad I found this place.
Thanx to everyone (ears, eyes, and mind are still open so feedback is welcome.)
Steve

 

[Anonymous Poster]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( </font><font color="blueclass=small">

Totally different model.
I can get a husky chainsaw at Lowes now. The cost is 75% of what i paid for mine from a dealer. I'd bet it works just as good as mine.

)</font>

Not meaning to flame or anything, but all products are not created equal. I could give hundreds of examples, but to truly compare apples to apples, you must carefully examine the stock#/model# of the item. (The Milw*ukee modelXYZ sawzall from Men*rds is PROBABLY not the same Milw*ukee modelXYZ sawzall from Gr*inger Supply) You normally won't even know the difference untill you go to order replacement parts (trigger, bushings/bearing, brushes, relays, switches and the list goes on and on.) With over 20 years of retail experience, I've learned a little bit about things like drills, freezers, lawn mowers, ovens and this list also goes on and on also. So I guess the moral of the story would be, 'If you're going to compare apples to apples, make sure they both came from the same tree.'

Here's a REAL good example:
We are in the process of picking out the appliances for the new house. Whirlp**l makes what they call "Sidekicks"- an all-refrigerator and a matching all-freezer (with opposing hinges) in other words, a perfect matching pair, for side by side use. In stainless steel, they look like they belong in a commercial kitchen-AWESOME. Anyway, we looked at 3 differnt places and of course got 3 different prices, but the kicker is, they were 3 different stock numbers (only varied by 1 digit each) and what's really amazing is that they were 3 different sizes FOR THE SAME APPLIANCE. Go figure. (It was something like 26.6, 26.8 and 27 c/f, but I don't have the exact specs in front of me.)

anyway, that's my 2¢ about comparing prices (it don't quite work that way with tractors though.)

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( to truly compare apples to apples, you must carefully examine the stock#/model# )</font>

Good point; I've seen that little problem with lots of products.

At the price you quoted, that oughta be a right nice sewing machine for your wife. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

And I think you'll be happier with the wider tiller; sure hope you do, too. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[SLOBuds]

What an interesting thread, everyone! Thanks for the 'good read.' I particularly enjoyed some of the dealer comments which helped me to understand that perspective.

I am not a very good negotiator. So a few of the notes will definitely prove to be very helpful.

Right now I am making my need list along with its associated retail price. A couple of test drives are scheduled in 2 weeks. Then I should be ready to get down to business.

Thanks again.