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?

[Houston_Remodel]

It makes sense that there is inherent risk in selling a luxury item to people who actually enjoy taking long road trips. It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume any of us would happily travel half the country to fetch our shiny new RV for several thousand dollars less.

How much less is up to you.

"OH but when you'll need service...." Really? How often does your RV break down in your driveway. Normally you are miles from home when something goes wrong. If you do happen to live nearby a great repair shop that also sells RV's, then consider buying there. But my guess is, if they are great at fixing RV's, they will fix anyone's no matter where they purchased it.

[BB_TX]

late bloomer wrote:
..................l, 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.
..........

The dealer probably has enough people coming in with lowball offers that he instinctively knows when an offer is so low as to be not worth pursuing for whatever he has to sell.

[Bird_Freak]

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.

Sounds like you low balled big time and your offer was not even in the ball park.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Your offer could have been too low for the coach, or too low for the market where you were shipping.

One thing that is obvious is in some places coach A sells for XXXXX dollars and in another state - it can sell for 20% more or less.

Or you may just have found a dealer who had another customer interested in the rig.

[late_bloomer]

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.

[kalynzoo]

dan-nickie wrote:
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.

The point where neither of you are going to walk away from the table would be a reasonable judge of fair profit and fair selling price.

[dan-nickie]

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.

[Executive45]

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

[chuckftboy]

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.

[J-Rooster]

As much as they can get!

[rk911]

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.

[ferndaleflyer]

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

[BB_TX]

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.

[wildtoad]

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.

[tatest]

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.