Is asking for discount pricing disgraceful?

Well 2 points:

i should be so lucky to have a nice B&M store within a reasonable distance of my home - some of you lot are spoiled (and lucky) no disrespect intended.

i always look for B stock, a modest discount is nice and the seller can reduce his inventory!
 
Honeybee said:
Well 2 points:

i should be so lucky to have a nice B&M store within a reasonable distance of my home - some of you lot are spoiled (and lucky) no disrespect intended.

i always look for B stock, a modest discount is nice and the seller can reduce his inventory!
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I wish I had shops near me too. I have one, which I am grateful for even though they are quite limited and a mixed bag. (They carry a lot of chinese mass produced stuff like Onkyo and such as well as just a few higher-end pieces).

Yes, B stock is another very good way of going about it, as well as demo units, etc. actually quite helpful to both customer and dealer obviously as you pointed out.

Wow, just found out that my local high-end shop moved away. That leaves exactly zero local shops for me now. That's what I get for not popping in to visit over the last 10 months.
 
Thanks for all the response to the thread.

Looks like Al M is the only audiophile on the net that thinks it's disgraceful to try and get discount pricing.
 
MusicDirector said:
That's why rule number two in my book (closely following rule number one which is honesty), is never publicly share any deal you may have received from any dealer you may have worked with.
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Although when I have tried to help a fellow member out by sharing a discount %. Which l learned on the forums myself. A few things happened.

1 Other memers say you are lying. (Way over priced Barry from JL, for example.) JL dropped shipped to my door despite his rant.
2 They say you purchase recondition items with no warrantee.
3 Back ally sales. Good luck!
4 You purchase used floor models.
ect...

The few buyers that follow though, do very well!

The old lesson, no good deed goes unpunished, plus you spend a lot of time defending your self, to help others, so your dealer can gain a repeat customer.

Really just paying him back for the discounted price you recieved, by sending him volume.

Sharing a deal, brings a lot of heat from those who paid full pop.
 
KingRT10 said:
Although when I have tried to help a fellow member out by sharing a discount %. Which l learned on the forums myself. A few things happened.

1 Other memers say you are lying. (Way over priced Barry from JL, for example.) JL dropped shipped to my door despite his rant.
2 They say you purchase recondition items with no warrantee.
3 Back ally sales. Good luck!
4 You purchase used floor models.
ect...

The few buyers that follow though, do very well!

The old lesson, no good deed goes unpunished, plus you spend a lot of time defending your self, to help others, so your dealer can gain a repeat customer.

Really just paying him back for the discounted price you recieved, by sending him volume.

Sharing a deal, brings a lot of heat from those who paid full pop.
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That's why a PM referring someone you want to help to a reputable dealer whom you know will make them happy is all that's required. That and letting the referee know not to say anything of course. Keep it all private. I learned this lesson the easy way long before I came to AS. I watched things unravel regarding this type of thing on other boards, that's how I learned.
 
MusicDirector said:
That's why a PM referring someone you want to help to a reputable dealer whom you know will make them happy is all that's required. That and letting the referee know not to say anything of course. Keep it all private. I learned this lesson the easy way long before I came to AS. I watched things unravel regarding this type of thing on other boards, that's how I learned.
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I was thinking of us as a tight club at the time. Sharing info for our next purchase.
It gives you live Numbers to strive for at your preferredred dealer. But in the end past purchasers tear you down as they paid MSRP and cant see the benifit you added to their future purchase knowledge. I pride myself in staying well informed by nessesity. Others do not.

Mcintosh is esentially keystone depending on order size and shipping. That at least tells you what room is available. You are certainly not getting it for half price. But good info for our members negotiation. New Rolexes are marked 40% up. That lets you negotiate a fair price.
The Dealer decides, so no harm no foul. Most are pushing new inventory out the back door anyways to suppliment their sales. Business is business, retail Christmas is almost over.
Same with Cars or Watches to Cigars ect..
Asking for a big discount without knowing the facts can get awkward and maybe not even viable. Why go in as a neophyte and get put to an avoidable sleep.
Let the proud people who paid full retail go radio silent, underground.
 
KingRT10 said:
I was thinking of us as a tight club at the time. Sharing info for our next purchase.
It gives you live Numbers to strive for at your preferredred dealer. But in the end past purchasers tear you down as they paid MSRP and cant see the benifit you added to their future purchase knowledge. I pride myself in staying well informed by nessesity. Others do not.

Mcintosh is esentially keystone depending on order size and shipping. That at least tells you what room is available. You are certainly not getting it for half price. But good info for our members negotiation. New Rolexes are marked 40% up. That lets you negotiate a fair price.
The Dealer decides, so no harm no foul. Most are pushing new inventory out the back door anyways to suppliment their sales. Business is business, retail Christmas is almost over.
Same with Cars or Watches to Cigars ect..
Asking for a big discount without knowing the facts can get awkward and maybe not even viable. Why go in as a neophyte and get put to an avoidable sleep.
Let the proud people who paid full retail go radio silent, underground.
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This is the way I look at this. When I 'm working with a dealer on a possible purchase, I'm not going to tell anyone about what is being discussed when it comes to a purchase price. That is between the dealer and me the customer. I just can see it's anyone's business. Maybe the dealer has an item (one item) that he or she wants to move at a discounted rate or a new item the dealer wants to get out to see how it performs. I can't see a dealer offering discounted prices to everyone who contacts him/her just because it was written on a forum or from some third party discussion. It puts the dealer in a awkward position and jeopardizes he relationship with the original customer. If the manufacturer is offering a discount and the dealer passes that on, sure let people know, but when its a private sell, it's going to remain private in my book. My opinion of course.
 
CPP said:
This is the way I look at this. When I 'm working with a dealer on a possible purchase, I'm not going to tell anyone about what is being discussed when it comes to a purchase price. That is between the dealer and me the customer. I just can see it's anyone's business. Maybe the dealer has an item (one item) that he or she wants to move at a discounted rate or a new item the dealer wants to get out to see how it performs. I can't see a dealer offering discounted prices to everyone who contacts him/her just because it was written on a forum or from some third party discussion. It puts the dealer in a awkward position and jeopardizes he relationship with the original customer. If the manufacturer is offering a discount and the dealer passes that on, sure let people know, but when its a private sell, it's going to remain private in my book. My opinion of course.
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Spot on!
 
i'm for more transparency, in my business everyone knows what I make (fees) and they don't hesitate to negotiate them. Our industry publishes data on transactions and gives comparable sales data all the time - its how you track the market on what people are willing to pay. When I was on rennlist (Porsche owners site) and Ferrari chat is no different, members would call out "price check" all the time. the same goes for High-end Wrist watch sites. its a means to compare cost and services around the country to see how other consumers fared.
 
When quizzed about how much I paid for an audio component or accessories I always quote full retail. This does two things. It protects my long term relationships with my audio dealers and it allows the person inquiring about my prices to beat them if he can. If he does, then he's happy. If not, he still has no reason to be pissed off at me or the dealer. What I actually pay for anything, audio or otherwise, is no ones business but mine.
 
I ask for a larger discount if its with a dealer that I don't require service from. However, if I have in-home demos and lots of assistance then I have no hesitation paying more. This also gets me access to demo'ing lots of other gear without the guesswork of purchasing it first- and ultimately saves me time.

I used to buy a ton from Audiogon too, but now tire of that methodology. And with high shipping costs, shipping damage, much higher fees, etc. it still costs $.
 
What I find ironic is that when people buy a new car regardless of price (and hell, even used cars) people expect to get a discount and all but the timid demand one. On top of that, many people will lie about how much they paid for their new car to their 'friends' because they don't want to appear as being stupid or naive for the actual price they did pay. On this thread, we seem to have lots of secret squirrels who want to keep the price they paid quiet and some even said they lie to their friends and tell them they paid full list price.

We are interesting creatures.
 
KeithR said:
mep- to that end, i think you'd be surprised how cheap the guys with mega $ systems are.
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Oh no I wouldn't. I have met a few of them and I know how tight they are.
 
Also if a dealer asks me to keep mum on a purchase's details, I do so and I don't concern myself as to the motives of such a request. I figure there is a good reason behind it and if I feel I got a fair deal from said dealer, I want to keep a good relationship with them, so I respect requests.
Just my mileage on it, others will vary.
 
mep said:
What I find ironic is that when people buy a new car regardless of price (and hell, even used cars) people expect to get a discount and all but the timid demand one. On top of that, many people will lie about how much they paid for their new car to their 'friends' because they don't want to appear as being stupid or naive for the actual price they did pay. On this thread, we seem to have lots of secret squirrels who want to keep the price they paid quiet and some even said they lie to their friends and tell them they paid full list price.

We are interesting creatures.
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Well I call it respect for the dealer. You can go out there an attempt to under cut a dealer and tell everyone what you paid for gear its your choice but instead of a secret squirrel , we can call them Howler Monkeys.:D
 
MusicDirector said:
Also if a dealer asks me to keep mum on a purchases details, I do so and I don't concern myself as to the motives of such a request. I figure there is a good reason behind it and if I feel I got a fair deal from said dealer, I want to keep a good relationship with them, so I respect requests.
Just my milage on it, others will vary.
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I once had a dealer that sold gear to me so cheap that he required that I take biannual polygraph tests to make sure I didn't tell anyone about the prices I paid. He used to slip in questions during the polygraph test about his wife and wanted to know if I was attracted to her because I think he was looking to move her on down the road at a discount too.
 
When I buy something new, I always ask my dealer what can you do for me. When someone asks me how much I paid for a component I politely tell them it's none of your business. If they persist, then I get nasty.
 
Toobs said:
When I buy something new, I always ask my dealer what can you do for me. When someone asks me how much I paid for a component I politely tell them it's none of your business. If they persist, then I get nasty.
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That will teach them!
 
CPP said:
Well I call it respect for the dealer. You can go out there an attempt to under cut a dealer and tell everyone what you paid for gear its your choice but instead of a secret squirrel , we can call them Howler Monkeys.:D
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If by revealing the discounted price to an interested person gets your local audio dealer some additional business (which he would not have got otherwise), I do not see how it is not a win-win situation for everyone. He is obviously making money from selling you the component even at the discounted price. If your dealer forbids you from revealing the price, I can understand the need for secrecy.

Anshul
 
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