Negotiated Prices?

dwc56

I'm getting close to buying my home theater system... speakers/ receiver/ dlp

My question... when I am negotiating with the salespeople at the store, what type of discount should I be looking for on the equipment? I am dealing with Tweeter and a local boutique shop to make them compete for prices.

The list price from the speakers (lsi9, lsi7, lsic), sub and receiver (denon 3805) should be around $4200 and the list price for the TV should be around $400 as well. How much should I expect to negotiate this down? 5%? 10%? more? less?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Gaara

Speakers have a silly markup, usually around 100%. TVs are much less, more around 40% or so. I would want at least 10% off if I was shopping for speakers, the TV to. If you look in flyers places advertise 10% off all the time, tweeter will have lots of 15% off sales every once in a while. Get a salesmen who is knowledgeable and who will work with you on price. You could also consider buying on line, I personally would buy speakers online, but not the tv or receiver. Just don't spend to much time with the salesmen, then buy online, thats raw. Tell them the prices you see online, they will work with you. I got a stand at tweeter for 20% off, and a dvd player for 20% off as well. Boutique places can play with price more, but usually don't. Are you sure on that $400 dlp, if so I'll take one.

Jared

dwc56

You are right... not $400 for the DLP... $4000 instead... I wish it were $400

tapeshc

Try this place http://www.lasercity.com/ for LSi. They are authorised. I purchased my Lsi from them almost a yr. ago.

They come down on price significantly, specialy for a package. Buying local is convinient but tax only will cost you around $300-$350.

Ask for Glenn, I have worked with him and was good to work with.

Good Luck.

Tapesh

Gaara

Zero,

You make some great points, working with a dedicated salesperson is a must. They will do what it takes to close the deal, everybody is happier if they can get a good price for you. Adding store warranties is a good point to, if you plan on purchasing it you should expect a larger discount.

I do work in retail and I guess we just sell stuff to low. When I worked at CC we could discount up to 10% off without a manager's approval, when I worked at Sears we could do up to 15% off. At my current store we can do up to around 15% above cost without manager's approval. I have sold tvs for 25% off without batting an eye, most of these extremly low prices were to try and match internet prices. We have matched internet pricing in the past, and we always do what we can do get close to it, including thier delivery charge. My manager always says as long as there is money in the deal, do it. The most I have ever done on electronics was around 80% off some open box stuff, a camera from $400 down to $88, and some old jbl speakers they found in back, I think they went from around $200 to $25. If I were shopping for new speakers and a new tv, I personally would want atleast 10% off as a starting point, and would expect more like 15%. Especially if you don't spend any of their time, just walk in with the price you are looking for, quick money for both them and the company.

I do agree strongly with the last point, if you wan't to wheel and deal don't take to much of the salesperson's time, be upfront with them. Explain that you are trying to get the best price and that you are shopping around, don't let them talk to you for an hour, then tell them you already know everything you just want a good price.

Jared

Toxis

Well, maybe it's different out there but everywhere around me has polk set to unilateral pricing. Meaning they cannot discount the product one cent unless Polk says so. So that eliminates that. TV's are FAAAAAAAAAAR from a 40% markup. If you believe that, you honestly have never worked for an electronics company and are going off what your buddy told you. Denon has a pretty good markup as well but seriously, it's not always about price. If you buy off price, you're whoring yourself out. Seriously, you need to buy from/support the retailer/salesman that actually spent time with you and you feel most comfortable with. What ever happened to the days of people spending a few extra bucks for service. Now people want to be treated like **** by some 18 year old with an attitude as long as they save $20. Crazy.

BTW, don't run the LSi's off a 3805. Look at my signature, I own what you're looking for. The 3805 has a great processor and works as a preamp just fine but don't waste the speakers by putting them off a reciever. Get a seperate amp or step down to the RTi line. Seriously.

aaharvel

Tweeter sales staff are much like Car Salesman, particularly the used variety. Being as how I grew up in the car business, that's not necessarily a knock, just a fact of life. For what it's worth.

okiepolkie

I agree with not using the 3805 for the LSi's. Also, what sub are you planning to use with the setup. If you are trying to get a Polk sub, look at something else.

Gaara

Zero,

Everywhere that I have worked we had freedom, but it was eventually taken away. At CC after about 4 months we had to get manager's aproval for any discounts, even a penny off. They went back to the 10% rule after a few months. The same happened at sears.

Toxis,

On polk speakers our current store has them unilateraly priced, that is if I take $1.00 off I lose $.99 in commision. They do have spiffs though, so even if I take 10% off I will still make just as much as I would have made selling them for full bang without the spiff. You can also just gut the tv if they are buying a tv and speakers, and make tons on the speakers plus spiff.

As for the markup on tvs, that number is a little high for a average, I meant the tvs he was looking at, specifically $4000 DLPs. We have some tvs that are real beat, like a Toshiba 19in tube that sells for $99.97, cost is about $95, but then with the larger set there is much more markup. For example for a while we had a Toshiba 52HMX84 that sould for $2699, that we had at cost for $1210. This was a special situation, we got a good buy on them, but I sold them to friends of mine for $1399, nearly half off the regular price. Regular customers were getting them for $1999.97, still over 25% off. The new model retails for $2699 and cost is around $1700, give or take $50. This is pretty common on these sets, I would say the average markup on 42in plus sets, (excluding CRT rear projo) is around 30-40%, with markup on the larger dlps being between 35-45%. I guess our store must just have lower cost then everyone else.

Jared

P.S. If you want I can post the recipt for my buddy's $1399 52in dlp.

thehaens@cox.net

Ask tweeter for an AVid membership registration. Fill it out and send it in. The AVid card is good for 5% off, that is 5% off after any negotiated prices you have. Bottom line, once they start checking you out at the register mention your card, and they will take the 5% off. As someone else mentioned, ask about the extended warranty. I have usually been able to negotiate a price that gets me the warranty for free. They will sometimes discount the price of the goods to the price of the warranty. I have done this with all my TV's...You can also negotiate for the floor models. That also carry the full warranty..

scott

okiepolkie

One thing to keep in mind is that Polk speakers carry a good warranty to begin with. Buying an extra service plan does not always work out for the better with items like this. Items with 1 year or less warranty will use the service plan more often than speakers with a 5 year waranty.

h4ma

I agree with Zero. However, I work at a Fry's Electronics store. Our pay structure is minimum wage + commission. Associates receive 15% of whatever extended warranties they sell. Our commission is directly related to how much discount we give the customer and how it affects the gross profit margin for the store. I remember a month ago, I sold a Harman Kardon CP35 system that we normally sell for $1599 that pays an associate $100. The customer received $250 off, leaving the commission at $21. The lower end polk speakers don't pay much. Polk monitor 50's sell for $199 each, and pays an associate $5. And Sony, boy, a system that sells for $900 that only pays $10. That hurts.

If you want to try to haggle the price down, you really need to get in good with the sales person you're working with. Because if you're taking up alot of time auditioning different sets of speakers and the associate knows he's only making a few dollars off of it. Imagine how the associate will take it if you take away his commission with no gain. However, if you're buying a complete system, speakers + cables and accessories, speakers + components, and willing to signup for a store credit card and/or extended warranties, you'll have more bargaining power.

That aside, I, as an audio sales associate have no authority to give discounts of any kind without supervisor permission. Signing up for a store credit card is an instant 5% off, 10% off if you really try to haggle with the sales person AND the supervisor. There's a margin of profit that the store can't go below, and supervisor salaries are based on a portion of the gross profit of the department they work in. So, any discounts given not only affects the sales persons' commission, but supervisors as well.

goingganzo

i expect at least 15% i have t tech i use. first i will find what i want. then i will a day or 2 later buy it. if you walk in and say i want this at this price =you have a better chance. also do your home work on price. if you know the invoice price of mos things you have a better chance. my adcom msrp is 1500 and invoice is 900 i payed 1100 i wanted to get it for 1k but 1100 was the best. most sales persons make 25% of the profit of a sales