|
|
| In the market for a new boat, but I'm wondering how much flexbility there is when negotiating. Do boat dealers have as much flexibility like car dealers when selling? Once you are told the cost of the boat with all the extras, how low below that price should your offer be? $1,500 to $2,000, or less? We're talking about a boat which, with all the extras, will be around $23,000. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 434
Location: searchin for 50 | Are you trading in a boat? If not the only thing the dealer can say is no the price he gave you is as low as he can go. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 3508
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | When I purchased my last boat (October of 2004 for a 2005 model year) I shopped around for the best price on the rig itself over the phone. Then, I went to the dealer I purchased my old boat from, and asked them their price. They were about $1000 high and I stated where I found a lower deal. The sales lady went to the head person, came back and offered me a deal that was only $30 more than the other dealership. Same exact set-up...trailer and all. I figured, if they can get that close, and I know this dealership and who would be rigging my boat, it was worth it.
Cannot hurt to try... Do your homework over the phone as best you can, take the best deal to the dealer you feel most confident in, and see what happens. If they don't come close, you walk away.
Steve |
|
| |
|
Posts: 619
Location: Verona, WI | I bought I new Lund last year. Shopped a local dealer and then hit two other places. I ended up getting them to come down on the Lund by $400 (on a $20K asking price) but that was it. Definitely not like shopping for a car.
Shane |
|
| |
|
| Car manufactures retain 4-5% below the dealership invoices......Car Manufactures rebate back to the dealerships quarterly.......Most dealerships rely on the rebates for there profit margins. Car dealerships are usually set-up for the maintenance departments to cover the dealerships nut and the sales department for the profitablity.....Sales major motivation is to move cars and to make sure they don't pay high levels of juice to the floor plan companies.
The boat industry is not set-up like the car industry.....Motor and Boat manufactures have levels of sales volume dictating the selling price to the dealerships......The boat purchased is only as good as the dealership....Therefore look more for dealer value than cost savings.....$400.00-$1,000 doesn't go far when potential problems arise. |
|
| |
|
| Why Knot,
Thanks. That's what I was wanting to know. Now that I understand that, I'll know how to better negotiate realizing that the dealer is limited with how much he can drop the price. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32953
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Why Knot has it nailed. The margins on quite a few boats are as low as 8 to 10%, so not much profit is built in there. SOme boats carry a better margin, but the dealer is going to be reluctant to give that up because the price is usually set a bit more in stone on the higher margin boats no matter where you price one out. Interestingly, many of the highest price products out there have a low margin. |
|
| |
