what is reasonable profit for the dealer

[late_bloomer]

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?

[mayo30]

Your concern is not how much the dealer is going to make.It is about how much can YOU afford to pay and in fact do you have the money.

[DanTheRVMan]

25 to 30% off msrp should be doable for most mhs people talk about here.

Dealers are funny playing a bluff with you. They will tell you 15 to 20% is the best they can do some times. Just move on.

It is weird, dealers that would not budge for me were reported to move more for other buyers a few months later. Vice a versa also. Some one posted the dealer I bought from said it was impossible to get the deal I had posted. I sent him a pdf copy of the purchase.

Remember you can tell a sales person is lying if their lips are moving

You just need to find a dealer willing to lower the price when you are ready to buy.

[hoopers]

Find out the invoice price and go from there. There are several places, for a small fee, that will look up the invoice price for you. Invoice prices are published, just like cars, but are not available to the general public (unlike cars).
Penny wise and pound foolish. Pay the small fee (50 dollars), and save thousands.
Most dealers have a profit percentage they wont go under, during a normal sale. "Un-normal" might include last years models, too many of one model,some type of big sale, etc.
Rough numbers is msrp and invoice differ by about 33%.
Another great tactic is to find an out of state dealer that advertises very low prices...get that price on the unit you want, and use that against the local dealer.

The last two units I have bought have been at least 33% lower than MSRP. And the last deal was from Camping World, who hemmed and hawed about the lower price. When my salesman took the offer to the sales manager, the salesman just laughed at my offer, as it was so low he said. He almost wouldn't take it to the sales manager. But in the end, Camping world took it, because it met their minimum profit expectation.

[afrescopXx]

Unlike buying a car or truck there is no easy way to find out the invoice price (the price the dealer paid for the unit). The Net is full of sites where you can easily find out what a dealer is paying for a car or truck. The rule of thumb when buying cars or trucks is to always negotiate UP from invoice and not DOWN from MSRP. When I buy a car or truck I come armed with that information. If a dealer claims my numbers are incorrect I ask to see the actual invoice. If the dealer balks at showing me the true invoice I walk. Most reputable dealers will show you the true invoice. The window sticker (they do have them) for RVs varies from dealer to dealer. It is my opinion that the dealers tell the manufacturer what to put on that sticker. The Magneson-Moss Act regulates the window sticker for cars and trucks. Any of those vehicles will have the same price anywhere. This is not true for recreational vehicles.
A few years ago there was a RV dealer releasing the invoice information for publication. I do not remember the exact details but he was forced to stop by the manufacturer(s).

[amandasgramma]

I'm going to add my 2 cents worth......and have NOT read any of the answers. There is NO FAIR price of increase..or percentage of increase. You don't know what expenses that dealer has.......does the dealership pay for rental on property? Have they just built a new building???? Do they totally own everything????? Not a fair judgement for YOU to say they should only make xx$. Do your research, look online (you can look at what OTHER dealers are selling the unit for) and determine what YOU want to pay.........then go from there. If they don't agree to your terms, then there is no contract....:)

[Y-Guy]

When I bought my 1st couple of starter RVs, PopUp & Hybrid I did as much research as I could. Internet was blooming but not many wholesale dealer prices were listed. I didn't feel I got the best deal on my second one.

So when I purchased my next RV, like you I was trying to research everything. Found there really is no such thing as MSRP - the dealer makes it up (for the most part) I got quotes from 4 dealerships, one being a wholesale dealership that would ship the unit to me. That idea made my nervous, but their price was well below the others even with shipping. So when I approached my local dealer that was my target range. That dealer went back and forth but eventually we agreed on a price that was good enough for me.

Oh and I agree with smkettner advice, never hurts to try. If they sit on the lot long enough they will deal, they are losing their profit in flooring costs the longer they sit.

[time2roll]

late bloomer wrote:
Thank you all for the replies. I am doing my research, and this is part of it. My question stems from the fact that, after I did my research on a particular model, I made an offer, and was pretty much shown the door. No counter offer, no haggle, very much unlike any negotiating I had done for a car or truck.

Since there is no "consumer reports" service available that I am aware of, I just wondered if there was some protocol that I violated in my negotiating. I know the dealer has to make some profit, but it's my money, and I'm kinda attached to it.

Don't worry the dealer is not offended or bothered. If you do not get run out by at least three then you did not really try.

Go back in a few weeks and check again. And plan to walk out again when they give you their best price so that you can think about it. RVs do cost a bit of money.

Try another dealer in the mean time.

[msmith1199]

late bloomer wrote:
Thank you all for the replies. I am doing my research, and this is part of it. My question stems from the fact that, after I did my research on a particular model, I made an offer, and was pretty much shown the door. No counter offer, no haggle, very much unlike any negotiating I had done for a car or truck.

Since there is no "consumer reports" service available that I am aware of, I just wondered if there was some protocol that I violated in my negotiating. I know the dealer has to make some profit, but it's my money, and I'm kinda attached to it.

I have found that with buying cars that if the dealer lets me walk out the door and doesn't call the next day wanting to do the deal, the price I offered was not enough for him to make enough money to do the deal. If they can make money they will do the deal. RV dealers will be the same way.

[Nomadac]

late bloomer wrote:
Thank you all for the replies. I am doing my research, and this is part of it. My question stems from the fact that, after I did my research on a particular model, I made an offer, and was pretty much shown the door. No counter offer, no haggle, very much unlike any negotiating I had done for a car or truck.

Since there is no "consumer reports" service available that I am aware of, I just wondered if there was some protocol that I violated in my negotiating. I know the dealer has to make some profit, but it's my money, and I'm kinda attached to it.

Buying an Motorhome is not like buying a car or truck, different volume, and RV Mfg. are not like the Auto Industry.

It may be your money when buying, but it is the dealer's money tied up in a facility, inventory, overhead, taxes, etc. and he is attached to his money also.

[kcmoedoe]

Trap wrote:

late bloomer wrote:
Thank you all for the replies. I am doing my research, and this is part of it. My question stems from the fact that, after I did my research on a particular model, I made an offer, and was pretty much shown the door. No counter offer, no haggle, very much unlike any negotiating I had done for a car or truck.

Since there is no "consumer reports" service available that I am aware of, I just wondered if there was some protocol that I violated in my negotiating. I know the dealer has to make some profit, but it's my money, and I'm kinda attached to it.

I believe it's the dealers way of telling you that they don't think enough of your offer to waste there time negotiating any further.

I agree 100%. For me to counter-offer on any offer, that offer needs to be a good faith offer to buy. If I have my RV for sale for $200,000 and someone offers me $75,000 they are not really making an offer to buy. I am not going to just start lowering my price until I think there is a chance that doing so will lead to a sale.

[dougrainer]

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
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?

Absolutely false on the first part. ALL dealers PAY for their units the minute it leaves the factory. They either pay for them out of their own money(VERY RARE) or have a Financing Institution That "Floorplans" the units on his lot. The dealer then pays monthly interest on ALL the units on his lot except the used units. But, some dealers can also Floorplan some of his used units. It depends on how good his credit is with the Financing institutions. If the Factory has a lot of excess units (VERY rare after the 2008 meltdown), then the Factory may have a program to pay the Interest on those particular units for a set time to help move them. Doug

[Trap]

late bloomer wrote:
Thank you all for the replies. I am doing my research, and this is part of it. My question stems from the fact that, after I did my research on a particular model, I made an offer, and was pretty much shown the door. No counter offer, no haggle, very much unlike any negotiating I had done for a car or truck.

Since there is no "consumer reports" service available that I am aware of, I just wondered if there was some protocol that I violated in my negotiating. I know the dealer has to make some profit, but it's my money, and I'm kinda attached to it.

I believe it's the dealers way of telling you that they don't think enough of your offer to waste there time negotiating any further.

[randallb]

In the middle of 2008 we were seriously looking at the Monaco 30SFS on a Workhorse chassis. I walked in to a brand new HR/Monaco dealer 10 miles from our house and set a check for what I thought was a fair purchase price on the desk. The salesman picked it up, walked in to the sales managers office, came back out, set the check back on the desk and said no thank you. That was what I was willing to pay and they were not interested. We added $10,000 to that check and purchased a new 08 HR Vacationer XL for $103,000 out the door from another dealer. They will turn down a cash offer if it does not fit their business model.
Randy

[korbe]

And if a dealer shows me the door because of a perceived low-ball offer, that's fine and I will take my money elsewhere.