haggling on camping prices

wpo - tried to send you a nice PM but could not; could you open up PM to me?

jplante4 wrote:
I'm wondering what the reaction would be if you reserved a campsite and on check-in the manager said that he had several people on standby for this weekend and could get $10 more a night. Would you be willing to pay the extra $10?

Or if the campground owner held a auction for the premium sites.

If the campground is a affiliate of GS or PPA I will ask for the discount. I will not haggle over their rates.

I agree with everything you have said Western. Too bad you can't tell us where you are (against the rules) since some of us may like to visit someday.

We may ask about what discounts are available, but never haggle.

Maybe your definition of haggle and mine are different. To me haggle means a back-and-forth negotiation until you arrive at a price that is amenable to both parties. That is a lot different than asking about a discount.

westernrvparkowner wrote:

beemerphile1 wrote:
Not for a single night or even a couple of nights. However if you are talking about weeks, months, or more, haggle away.

365 nights x $60 = $21,900
365 nights x $45 = $16,425
The difference of $5,475 is NOT insignificant!

I see nothing wrong with different campers paying different fees. Westernrvparkowner, have you ever flown on a commercial airline? It is possible that every passenger on that plane paid a different ticket price for the same flight.

No one on that airplane paid a fare that wasn't available to everyone else on the plane. No one called up the CEO or even the reservation agent and negotiated a price that wasn't available to others. Granted you have to navigate minefields to get those fares, but they are available to all passengers.

You could also say the same at a campground. The person that asked for and got a better price got a price that was available to all campers, but all campers didn't ask for it.

beemerphile1 wrote:
Not for a single night or even a couple of nights. However if you are talking about weeks, months, or more, haggle away.

365 nights x $60 = $21,900
365 nights x $45 = $16,425
The difference of $5,475 is NOT insignificant!

I see nothing wrong with different campers paying different fees. Westernrvparkowner, have you ever flown on a commercial airline? It is possible that every passenger on that plane paid a different ticket price for the same flight.

No one on that airplane paid a fare that wasn't available to everyone else on the plane. No one called up the CEO or even the reservation agent and negotiated a price that wasn't available to others. Granted you have to navigate minefields to get those fares, but they are available to all passengers.

I'm wondering what the reaction would be if you reserved a campsite and on check-in the manager said that he had several people on standby for this weekend and could get $10 more a night. Would you be willing to pay the extra $10?

Jack_Diane_Freedom wrote:
Westernrvparkowner I think that is the only way one can operate a fair and equitable business.

Don't tell the airlines or the hotel chains this. They'd go out of business.

Best line is honestly simple. "Do you offer a cash discount?"

And...For those who want to pay full price there's MasterCard.

To me, there is a difference between "haggling" and asking for a legitimate discount. Haggling you are asking for something special that you might not even deserve. Asking if there are discounts is fair for sure. Many places - not just rv'ing places but fast food, etc. - don't hand them out but if you ask they willingly give them to you.

Many times I don't agree with westernparkowner but he nails this perfectly right. In the long run, treating everyone equally and fairly will bring you far greater returns.

Airlines different prices? Or anything else? Sure. But people only get what they rightfully are entitled to.

My immigrant Swede father ran a small town car business for 3 1/2 decades starting in 1922 - he did not stay in a business like that by playing games and not doing the above.

I spent 32 years in corporate marketing and tried my very best to follow his principles. By all measurable standards I did very well - though they did not pay me what I was worth! :-)

I was given an account once with huge potential. We were doing about $100K / year. We had just been thrown out because they found out we sold the same products to other companies for 10-15% less and those companies were half or less volume than they were. Out the door to zero for us. It took me about 6 months to start doing some business with them but had them to $1.5 million / year in 2 years.

Sorry I ranted but this triggers me - I will always do business with people who treat ALL people fairly and honestly.