what is reasonable profit for the dealer

I'm with Dennis.
Worrying about a fair profit for dealer is not part of a smart negotiating process. Let them worry about that.
Your job is to buy as low as you can.

Why is that important??//..:h

Do YOUR RESEARCH.....once you've picked out a unit....Do YOUR RESEARCH ...!!!

Once you've found your dream coach, research what similar coaches have recently sold for. Sites like RV Trader and PPL MotorHomes have SOLD units and prices. Even eBay can be searched for sold units. With those figures in hand make an offer to the dealer. He'll either take it or decline it..maybe even counter it. Either way, at that point you can simply walk away if you can't negotiate your price.

IMHO, it's none of your business what kind of profit the dealer makes.....it's HIS business NOT YOURS..:S...just sayin.....Dennis

Because we live in a Capitalist Society, a reasonable proffit would be as much as the customer is willing to pay. Most retail sellers can do well at 30% gross. Don't think RV dealers would be much different.

As much as they can get!

late bloomer wrote:
Is it a percentage of the price or a fixed amount? If I can find out what a dealer has paid for the unit, how much above that is fair?

fairness is not a part of the equation. what's a fair salary for you? how much do you really need? what if the dealer was able to buy some stock at a drastically reduced price...should he be required to sell it at a drastically reduced price?

all that said you probably should be looking for the average discount on a new RV. based on what I've read and after talking with friends who bought new you should expect anywhere from 15%-25% depending on the type of RV, the local market, season when bought, etc. lots of variables. I believe that less expensive units will have less markup and thus less wiggle room for the dealer whereas a 42' bulge-mobile with all the bells and whistles will allow the dealer bunches of negotiating room.

Dealer is going to make as much as the traffic can stand---count on it.

Best you can do is compare prices for similar units between more than one dealer. Even with cars and trucks and knowing the invoice price you will never know exactly what profit they make. With an RV you will never have any idea no matter how they present the numbers.

It is quite common to see units advertised at at 20-30% off the MSRP which of course means there is still room to negotiate. I am always amazed that there are so huge differences between dealers on the advertised price.

I don't think any dealer is going to let you look at his accounts, so it is unlikely you'll know his profit to be in a position to decide what you think is fair.

Margin on a particular unit? People here say you might buy at 25-30% of a suggested list price, but you still have no idea what the dealer must pay for even a new unit, because they get different deals themselves from the factory, with volume discounts, seasonal incentives, sales incentives, special purchases. Then there are costs to cover like financing overhead, rent, utilities, insurance, taxes, employee salaries, commissions for sales staff and sales management.

You can make an offer you think is fair, and if the dealer thinks it is fair, he'll accept it.

Dealers don't 'buy' new units most of the time. They take them on consignment and have a set fee that has to be paid back to the mfr after the sale.

Reasonable profit - hard to say - depends upon volume. A dealer who sells 300 units at average $150,000 per year can make a lot less per unit than a dealer who sells 30 units per year.

I would expect the manufacturer to get between 40 and 60% of the MSRP, and the difference between that and the sale price is the dealer's gross profit. Not operating profit which would likely be only half the gross profit, and probably only 10% of the gross profit might be net profit.

Plus - is the owner a paid employee with a set salary - which makes her/his money part of the operating costs, or does the owner take her/his money out of the net profit after all expenses are paid?