RRP / retail price vs. puchase price?

[metal beat]

You can generally get a better price for demo stock.

  That applies for hifi and cars.

[Nickelle]

I had a guy come to do a cable search at my house before I started to dig, he rang me en route and said he had been on a job a few k's from me and would be here in minutes. He stayed 40 minutes maximum, then when leaving he told me he was going on to another job 'just around the corner.

 

About a week later i was billed for travel from the depot to my house and from my house to the depot, which added just under $300 to the bill.

 

I queried the bill with the company, let him have his say then questioned the ethics of charging me for travel mileage and time not actually done.

 

I had just over $230 deducted from my bill and a new invoice sent. It pays to check.

[Esoterica]

1 hour ago, metal beat said:

You can generally get a better price for demo stock.

  That applies for hifi and cars.

I've always haggled for electronics and vehicles, but when it comes to hifi I often buy the ex-demo or clearance stock. It's often where the biggest savings are and it takes no effort. The older I get, the less I can be bothered negotiating. Anyway, most of my gear is bought online, since there's no hifi stores within cooee. So I can't really haggle, although could by phone I suppose.

[Guest crankit]

Drop a big lager bomb on a brand new McIntosh, then ask the salesperson "how much now"

Edited October 14, 2021 by crankit

[Kaynin]

On hi-fi gear I usually ask for best price, mainly because I have no idea how much room there is to move.  I never pay RRP, but I understand that margins vary.  I usually accept their first response as the best they can do when considering they are also trying to run the business.

[Luc]

34 minutes ago, Kaynin said:

On hi-fi gear I usually ask for best price, mainly because I have no idea how much room there is to move.  I never pay RRP, but I understand that margins vary.  I usually accept their first response as the best they can do when considering they are also trying to run the business.

I did that last year on a purchase and then realised I really shouldn't buy it and I probably can't afford it and kinda walked away(via email) and I got a second offer at a price I could justify(not afford mind you...lol).

 

So don't accept the first offer is my motto till it doesn't work on the next purchase.

[awty]

I hate haggling and avoid buying from places that require it, especially with sales people. Last time I made a significant hifi purchase was in 1983. If stores displayed a completive price to begin with and sales people werent full of BS, things probably be different.

I dont know why its hard to do that. Ive been self employed for 20 years and always give the best advise I  can and the most affordable price, thus I never have to haggle. 

[GregWormald]

On 15/10/2021 at 9:20 AM, awty said:

I hate haggling and avoid buying from places that require it, especially with sales people.

Years ago I haggled in Bali because it was seen as a social interaction and often was in fun!—

"If I paid that much for it, I couldn't afford to feed my children."

"I understand, but if I sold it to you for your offer I would have to move back in with my mother."

 

I was told by one retailer (from whom I ended up buying a fair few things), that there were a number of prices: the same village price, the Indonesian price, the tourist price (If you could afford to travel you were rich enough to pay more than locals), the German tourist price (because the Germans wanted the village price!), and the asking price!

 

Some shops hated bargaining and would put a sign up over the door "harga pas"—"fixed price", and generally they meant it.

 

My son (then 12) loved bargaining and continued to bargain with everybody, over everything on our return.

[muon*]

On a fridge or washing machine I'll haggle, but for audio I generally don't and view the stated price as the price.

[betty boop]

On 14/10/2021 at 6:49 PM, Kaynin said:

On hi-fi gear I usually ask for best price, mainly because I have no idea how much room there is to move.  I never pay RRP, but I understand that margins vary.  I usually accept their first response as the best they can do when considering they are also trying to run the business.

this is exactly what i do... I always ask...

 

if it is their best price it is ... thats all i want... best for them best for me  

 

I want them to be around for after sales and next time i want to buy something...

 

and specifically for the specialist 2ch and AV stores I also want them to be around and support them so they continue to be around. We are very blessed with bricks and mortar presence eg with 2ch and av stores all around me can go and demo (covid permitting ! ) which many other countries like us are bereft off with mainly just box movers or online stores being the major and often only option there...

[Kaynin]

22 minutes ago, betty boop said:

 

if it is their best price it is ... thats all i want... best for them best for me  

Exactly Al, best price is best for them and me.  It doesn’t mean lowest price.

 

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by Kaynin

[oztheatre]

On 12/10/2021 at 4:24 PM, Esoterica said:

I've always haggled for electronics and vehicles, but when it comes to hifi I often buy the ex-demo or clearance stock. It's often where the biggest savings are and it takes no effort. The older I get, the less I can be bothered negotiating. Anyway, most of my gear is bought online, since there's no hifi stores within cooee. So I can't really haggle, although could by phone I suppose.

 

ha then some try and tell you 'come in and then we can talk price'.. yeah sure a 400km round trip makes so much sense just to chat about price. 

[GregWormald]

2 hours ago, oztheatre said:

 

ha then some try and tell you 'come in and then we can talk price'.. yeah sure a 400km round trip makes so much sense just to chat about price. 

I'm sure that attitude/policy costs sales.

 

It happens on-line too: "Call for our special pricing." they said. So, I did, and they weren't interested in selling because they wouldn't budge a cent on the posted prices, so I went elsewhere. Oh well, it was only an $18K sale.

[wen]

I remember a few years ago in Bali buying a carved chess board, when the guy told me the price i said ok straight away, he said no too much and lowered the price, this happened twice till i insisted he take the money.

Recently bought a phono pre, quoted the rrp then politly asked what they were selling them for, price reduced by about 10%, very happy

[Skasey]

It's really interesting to read the opinions of Rab Turner of Carlton Audio Visual on this subject.

I don't think that he will mind me sharing the link from the CAV site here

https://www.carltonaudiovisual.com.au/news/cat/opinions/post/the-best-price/

[bob_m_54]

1 hour ago, Skasey said:

It's really interesting to read the opinions of Rab Turner of Carlton Audio Visual on this subject.

I don't think that he will mind me sharing the link from the CAV site here

https://www.carltonaudiovisual.com.au/news/cat/opinions/post/the-best-price/

That's a good read. I found it interesting, his comparison between certain nationalities of customers, and totally agree in the reverse situation as well. I spent two and a half years in Malaysia, and the big difference I found between sales staff there, and here, was that the Asian sales person tended to bargain with an aim to foster further business, along with making enough money on the sale of course. Here it often seems the sales staff (or more accurately the shop attendant) just seems to go for the big sale, without a thought to fostering further business.

 

And of course the reverse situation is where people come in and haggle, with no intention to actually buy from the store. That is just poor form, and no surprise that the sales staff gets pee'd off with it. What the customer has done in this case, is killed any chance of fostering a future relationship with that store or salesperson.

 

[Addicted to music]

8 hours ago, bob_m_54 said:

 

 

And of course the reverse situation is where people come in and haggle, with no intention to actually buy from the store. That is just poor form, and no surprise that the sales staff gets pee'd off with it. What the customer has done in this case, is killed any chance of fostering a future relationship with that store or salesperson.

 

when I was a kid and I wanted to check something out, I use to get the F…off treatment, they looked at you as if you don’t have the money or the cash to be able to afford…. I would cop that 10\10 times no matter where I’d go.  It also happen till when I was 20 and was in full time work!   A typical example was Douglas HiFi on Burke st in Melb,  I use to go there with friends during school holidays to see a movie, on the way we’d check out the stereo equipment…. The only time a sales rep would talk to you is when they’re not busy,  I was looking at those Akai and Sharp portable stereos,  but as soon as an adult walked into the shop it’s like the kid who had $200 in his pocket wasn’t good enough to spend the cash.   Needles to say that I spent it in a store in Springvale that was also prep to give me a discount on a Akai portable…..

I was showing up at HIFI shows to see what progress in the last few years and I had my sights on Bill McLean Audio who was demoing Magnaplanar 1.7 and Sander Electronics…….Every year I’d speak to Bill during a HiFi Show so he knows who I am,  I also showed up at Audio Trends when he was trying to demo Magnaplanar there.     Now I didn’t have the cash then,  and when I was ready and had the cash I bought the Sanders Magtech of him at reduced inflated price.   
In my 20s I use to hang out in Sound Craftsmen in Kooyong Rd.   During my 1st visit I was 18 and wanted a Yamaha TT.   They demonstrated it in from of another potential buyer from the bottom of the range Yamaha to a Rega to a LInn LP12 all jigged up to be the ultimate… I bought that Bottom of the range yammie TT, then when money permitted I upgraded to a Rega and then a LInn.   Needless to say I spent $20k in that store in a space of 18mths.   $20k in the mid 80-90s is a lot of money….  So treating people like they are wasting your time is basically a blow to your potential sales regardless of industry…..  There was a member here who walked into a camera store in worn out clothing to look like he was homeless,  he had the money to check out top of the line camera gear,  willing to spend almost $30k….  He spent the money in a store where a rep treated him as a potential client…..  the others just gave him the signal from the body language that speaks louder than words….  Don’t treat potential clients as if they are time wasters 
 

Edited October 18, 2021 by Addicted to music

[Addicted to music]

Just been talking to a colleague why he haven’t been to a PITA client for a while, turns out that PITA client isn’t doing so well.   When you’re there on service support on a service order (service call),  jezuz,  you wonder how this guy stays in business at all.    He roams around his production facility on a Bluetooth and some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth I swear if it was me being talked to that way I’d hang up and never go there.

 

”So you want me to fire up our printer, warm it up and calibrated it that will take 20mins for your 300 prints for $XX.xx.    It’s not worth my time….”  
 

why would you even go this route if your printers are working anyway?   All you need to do is send the file and load load the media requested.
 

if your big clients aren’t  coming in you need to rely on the little guys to keep you afloat…..seriously. 

Edited October 19, 2021 by Addicted to music