Great ‘salespeople, tell us the best time to haggle’ Hunt

Andromeda

I want a small patio laid down in my back garden - is there a best time of the year to get this done when it will be cheapest? Thanks in advance.

moneysaverman99

I am a regular poster here but i will remain anonymous for this posting:-

I work at the high street shop Richer Sounds a hifi and tv retailer for years now. Very good company to work for and i enjoy every moment of it but i shall share our dirty little secrets!

There is a target to hit every week, which is based on an estimate of the last few years sales. Each particular week ends on a saturday evening in most stores. Every shop needs to hit or exceed the sales targets for that week with a decent % profit margin or the manager/ deputy manager of that shop gets harsh words.

Profit margins for televisions are tiny often actually losing money with the biggest currently being LG and Sharps but not actually that much more. Margins range from 0-20%

Profit margins on Hifi and AV equipment is good from 10-40% depending on the product.

Accessories ( cables etc ) also have good profit margins.

So if you are buying a tv by itself fat chance trying to get discount - if you want discount make the sale worthwhile, go for accessories and hifi with your tv purchase for some real good discount.

In terms of discount this is really dependant on the colleage. The shop heavily relies on Loss Leaders ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_leader ). Which is essentially a product which makes little or actually loses money to attact people into the shop then hopefully find something more suitable to what the customer actually needs and sell something which does make money.

As a general rule of thumb, anything on the website which is instore only tends to not make much or lose money. Sony and Panasonic come to mind the most.

So as a quick example a Sony 1080p 40" LCD is being advertised and an old couple walk into the shop only wishing to watch normal television on the screen. But they have specifically come in for this sony tv as seen in an advertisement. This 40" tv loses money AND the screen also isn't very good for normal television in comparison to a HD ready screen due to the higher resolution, which in this case will never be used so they are wasting money on a product AND losing the shop money at the same time. So the sales colleage shows the benefits of another screen this time a HD ready screen which would be more beneficial to the old couple due to not wasting money / electric cost and more upscaling needed on the 1080p screen. This tv however makes a little bit of money as opposed to losing some. The couple are insistent on that particular sony so the sales colleage has to make the other tv more attractive by :

1) Knocking down the price
2) Throwing in free items - warrenty or extra things such as stand.

because whilst they are reducing the price it is better to make some money than lose some.

By going on this discounting is fairly flexible if you have the right idea in mind. Go in knowing items which lose money and use those as persuasion to get discount on something which does make money and so get yourself a better deal.

Look at getting lots of things together, such as accessories Hifi and AV this way a nice big sale can mean more flexibility for the person to give free stuff or knock off money.

Finally everything is positioned in a clever way, hot products such as the loss leaders are placed into the window and items on prominent display inside the shop typically have much more flexibilty.

DontBeAWageSlave

Anyone with info on getting SLR camera deals - tried bulk buying with a friend and he didnt get far even though it would have been £2-3K worth? Needless to say he walked away as the salesman didnt attempt to move.

Maidenover

Thanks Moneysaverman99 for that info.
My husband has been thinking of buying a TV from either Richer Sounds or John Lewis. He has narrowed his choices down to one particular set - a Panasonic and it is priced at £599 in John Lewis. We live quite close to Bluewater and find it easier to shop at JL and like the 5 year guarantee they give on most items.

However, we are also looking to buy either a laptop or desktop to replace this 10 year old PC I'm working on at present. We are undecided on what to go for...stick with a PC or go for an Apple Mac. Added to to that we also have on our shopping list 2 new beds and a treadmill. With this huge (to us) amount of spending coming up I was looking to make as much savings as possible wherever we can - hence reading on here.

In the long run would we be better to open an account with John Lewis and place all our requirements with them and hope for a discount or shop individually. We don't have to go with finance unless it was 0% of course, we have been saving up for these items for some time and do have the money in our savings account.

Any help/advice/suggestions would be most welcome from any of you serious hagglers and shoppers.
Thanks in advance.

maninwhitecoat

mjhuxley wrote: »

A few years ago my brother was looking to buy a new Volvo estate, In looking around he also looked at a Mazda 6 something or other. He decided to go with the Volvo but then got a call from the Mazda salesman asking him to call in as he could offer him a good deal.
It was at the end of their period and they were due to take delivery of a double transporter load of new cars the next day. If he could reach the sales target before then, the company would get a £20,000+ discount on the trailer load, He got a brand new £15,000 Mazda for £6000.
He soon found that he didn't like it & traded it in for the Volvo but got more that he paid as a trade-in. - timing is everything

Do you know round about when the end of their "period" was? month etc?

Lindy-Lou_2

I have already had a quote for fitted bedroom furniture and so decided to look at freestanding wardrobes at a local shop. I chatted to the salesman very nicely:rotfl:who said it was quite a quiet time (wrong move on his part but good for me). Working on the basis that whether it was fitted or freestanding it would stay in the house when we moved as it probably wouldn't fit another house (we have very high celings)- he worked out the price of the wardrobe and a couple of extras, gave me the price, then I added that I probably wanted a couple of bed side tables plus a chest of drawers, he got his calculator out again, gave me the total price. I then said that I assumed it included delivery and construction .... errrm ... yes. Oh and how much if I pay cash - his poor face just fell! It was an hour after the shop should have closed, so he just smiled and deducted a bit more. End result ..... 1/3 of the price for very good quality freestanding furniture!! Off to rob a bank tomorrow and pay the deposit (oh dear I forgot to tell him that I will pay the balance on completion!!) :hello:

Lindy-Lou

brightonman123

maybe not such big savings, but once worked in a pizza shop- on slow days (usually mon-thurs, with no big sport events going on), anyone making big orders (3+ large pizzas, or more than £25 say) who asked nicely usually got something added free- a few garlic breads, drinks etc.

there are usally vouchersin local press, or even yelow pages etc, along with (unadvertised?) ongoing discount for students / NHS staff etc.

before it all went commercialised, we often did swapsies with other takeaway shop managers, or off licences- 1 pizza gets a pack of beer etc!

if you dont ask, you dont get!

Scribbler

How about blinds companies? Any pointers?

Parts_Monkey

Hi, I work in the motor trade and with reference to what was said eralier, it does indeed pay dividends. I work for a Land Rover dealer and a good example of where loyalty pays off is with warranty.

If you engine blows up 3 months outside warranty, then Land Rover will make a contribution to the cost of repair. However it is based on whether you bought the car new, whether you've owned previous Land Rovers and a few other factors. e.g if it was your first Land Rover and you'd bought it 6 months beforehand, then you'd get very little back up where as if you were on you 4th New Land Rover then you'd get a rather healthy contribution.

I generally sell parts and if your after a discount, the big money at least with Land Rover, is made on exhausts and filters. Mats, mudflaps and other accessories have tiny margins.

My best deal in a shop was Halfords when I bought a stereo. The tactic? I want the blue one (£180) but I can only afford the green one (£130) Anything you can do? I walked away with the blue one for £150

debtworrier

Helix wrote: »

Only for new customers though. Not existing ones so that won't help to get a better deal as he is already and existing customer.

Ah, but is he an existing customer who is threatening to leave?