How to negotiate

ependydad wrote:

mrkoje wrote:

ependydad wrote:

JNKS2010 wrote:
We are getting ready to purchase our first TT... I have picked out the floor plan and we have a few options for brands... How do we negotiate the best price? What tactics do you use that worked? I've never negotiated a thing in my life! Haha a little help? Some advice?

I HATE negotiating! Hate it, loath it, despise it... you name it.

I used online "wholesalers" to get a bargain basement price and then approached local dealers for an out the door price. Each knew they were 1 of 3 or 4 dealers I was dealing with and each was told that they got 1 chance to give me their best price.

See if this helps: How I Negotiated for my RV

I don't believe in the "you got one shot - give me your best price" mentality. I think its a very poor way to negotiate and I've seen many people "not get the best deal" with this approach. Reason why? You are dug into your position about "one-shot or else" so much that it completely ends any negotiation before it starts.

Consider local first even if it costs more money. You WILL need warranty work done and routine service visits. The extra money you would have saved by going 300+ miles to a wholesaler will be completely negated by the fact that your local RV dealer will most likely tell you to go and pound sand if you need warranty work done.

I don't think I said to not give the local dealer a shot. In fact, I preferred buying from and did buy from my local dealer (albeit, they were 145 miles away and were the 2nd closest dealer to me- the first being 60 miles away). I used the "wholesaler" as a point of where the bottom line price was and didn't expect the local dealers to even meet or beat it in my case.

I paid slightly more for a "local" dealer and you know what? They sucked when it came to warranty and service work. It cost me $150 in fuel each time I had to drag the camper up to them and back and one time they literally left the camper sit without doing a single thing on it. My fault for not checking into their service dept more- but the bit that I did, I couldn't find anything good or bad. I rolled the dice and lost.

I believe in buying local but also in buying smart. You're not only buying the item but the future servicing as well. In this case the service department sounds horrible and that is unfortunate.

On the topic of the "one shot" mentality. Here is a true story that I still chuckle about and use as a training tool for my guys. A few years ago I had a nice gal try this approach with me. She was shopping the "best price - you got one shot." Well the vehicle she wanted the quote on had a few options that were nice - but added money to the overall cost. I gave her a very very competitive price - honestly a ridiculous price. Same lady a week later dropped by to inform me of her newest purchase from a competitor! The audacity you say - well it gets better. She informed me that my competitor beat my best price by $500! What she didn't know is that she paid $500 less overall for a vehicle that was easily worth thousands less (smaller engine, no touch screen or heated seats etc...) So you know ... it's not always about price but the value that you are getting for that price. Rarely are two vehicles or RVs identical. The lady would have had a better value with my offer but she only gave us ONE SHOT - and refused to talk any further about the deal or at least let my salesperson explain the pricing or the features etc. So for all you "ONE SHOTTERS" Shop smart - not blind with the one shot mentality.

And thats all I'm going to say