Ok, as a salesman of all things home theatre here’s my side of the story. Yes, haggling is getting more common and it will get you a better deal. However consumers need to play fair too. I do get some customers that go a bit overboard with it all and I happily let them walk. VERY HAPPILY. Especially if my budget for the week has been made and a very skinny deal isn’t gonna make me any commission. I find certain nationalities of people (won’t name the 2 but you may be able to guess) are really pushy with wanting a better “deal”. This can get very tiresome from my perspective. So…. If you wanna get the best deal from “me” be nice, ask nicely for my best deal and my personal product recommendations and have some trust in “me.” Alternately send in a good looking female friend/partner.

i refuse to educate anyone with a price from the web.  thats all tmost those people want is the free education those online stores can’t/don’t offer.

I also have to post a salesman’s point of view.
My company already has generally the lowest price in the business (for authorized dealers), and we still field tons of questions about price matching. No we do not price match unauthorized dealers. If a customer wants to buy from a sketchy brooklyn outfit, be my guest.  Price matching bothers me only because customers feel it is their right to get a lower price.

I brought in an internet price for a Panasonic Plasma from an internet authorized dealer to a local Hi Fi Vid-Audio chain. They didnt budge so I saved 2000 dollars total and the plasma, now over 5 years later,works flawlessly. Obviously I got it via the internet source, who still runs a large and reputable business as of today.

Unless it is under a 100 bucks, I haggle for everything.  Got thousands off my car, got $600 off my, at the time, brand new to the market tv, got $100 bucks off my tv/stereo stand, so on and so forth.  What I generally do is find what people are buying it for through the forums and work from there.  And if I can’t get that deal in my city, I will call around to the next 2 (which are 10 times the size so competition is way more fierce there) and get the best price quote from there, and then go back to the store that wouldn’t give me a break last time.  If they don’t match or beat it, off I go to the big city and save some coin…

I will try on most items to get a better deal. But if I go somewhere and the prices are so inflated as to be rediculous I don’t even try I just walk. I’ve received some very nice deals at times.  I have found places like Best Buy are not as willing to deal. There is a local electronics dealer that I would love to get some speakers from but they just wont deal, and I just wont pay full retail.

Most of the dweebs who pose as “salespeople” at the box stores couldn’t educate a marmot, much less someone who’s taken the time to do some real research.

Yes, a store has a right to make a profit. Overhead and all that. But many of these places charge MSRP. Anyone ever pay MSRP for a car? Why pay it for a piece of electronics? The bottom line is that when a reputable dealer can sell an item for 33% less than MSRP and still make a profit, then there’s nothing wrong with a consumer asking for a piece of that discount.

Then it’s up to the retailer to decide whether or not they want the business. There’s no sense paying more for an item if you don’t have to. Big boxes will either wise up or go belly up.

i didnd’t know “cool” people still used the term “dweeb”  lol.  i will be sure to add that back into my vocabulary now.  thank you bfd!  so for the rest of us, have fun dealing with your customers that caught this one from the new york times.  i know i have already had a couple that have seen or heard it.

I never pay retail for anything. i set up my home theater system with the top of the line components and still saved over 3500.00 from retail.A buddy couldnt belive how much i save so he asked me to take him shopping.His jaw dropped when i showed him i could get 1500.00 off on his tv without much fuss.that was just the start.The reality is that electronics are marked up for a good profit.A friend that was a buyer for a larg electronics shop told me most big ticket electronics are marked up 100 - 150% from what the store pays.

I would love to throw business to locally owned “ma & pa” AV stores.  Fact is, there’s such a discrepancy in price between the store fronts, and internet stores, you can’t ignore them.  Fact is, you can get any information on any product on the internet.

There was a $2,000 swing between my local AV store, and internet (authorized) store on a 60” Pioneer KURO plasma.

Even Best Buys sale price on the same TV was still $1,800 higher.

Best Buy finally did meet the internet store’s price.  Plus, with my rewards card, I’ll get a sizable credit.

I have a Samsung 4665 with no problems. I really like this T.V. I liked some other sets slightly more (mentioned below) but could not justify the extra money they wanted versus what little PQ or feature upgrade they offered
I spent 2 years watching the evolution of the lcd tech. and the price declines before I finally got “serious”. I then spent 3 months reading reviews and forums. Then I spent 1 month going into the stores on a daily basis to compare the PQ of the displays. By “compare”, I mean I bugged the store people to change settings, signals, show me menu’s, remote control’s, turn up the lighting in the room, turn the lighting off in the room, etc., etc. All the while I was dailing monitoring the pricing of the sets via online graphing and robo shoppers.
I finally had it narrowed down to my size and brand wishes. I liked the Sony “w”, the ‘XBR4”, Samsung 4665 and the 4671.
I then started my negotiation process with the sales people, who by this time just wanted me to “go away”. I had aqquired so much info on these TV’s, that it was clearly evident that the sales people who were selling them were just telling the customers whatever they thought or could make-up to sell them a TV that day. I constantly would over hear a sales person tell some poor customer some B.S. I knew to be false and would correct them. I wound up being asked to leave a B.B. store by the manager because all their potential customers had slowly congregated around me and started picking my brain with questions, ignoring the constant intervention by the sales staff to try and sell them a T.V.

The sales manager who finally sold me the T.V. spent an hour, not trying to sell me a T.V., but wanted me to teach him all the stuff I had learned about the differant panels, maufacturing processes, problems reported to be associated with each panel, board or firmware, etc. He then went back in the office and came back with a list of all the T.V’s they had and their bottom line store costs. I couldn’t believe it when he told me to take my pick and he would sell it to me at their total cost for being so helpful to him. I wound up getting the set I wanted (brand new in the box) for less than what the cheapest refurbished set I could find on the internet.

Since my purchase months ago I have continued to read the forums, reviews and checked the pricing (they have gone up considerably).

It is clear to me that their are bad apples in every bunch. Each of the models have had some problems, there are those people who got lucky with nice sets and those who got lemons. Some brands and models are definately better than others, but then they cost considerably more. For those of us who are not rich and cannot afford to spend good money only to be stuck with a faulty purchase, it can be quite minefield to have to walk through.

I can’t wait till it gets warm again here in Michigan so I can go golfing, forget about T.V.‘s and obcess about something else.

SIGNED:
Needs Therapy But Can’t Afford It, Spent All My Money On A Friggin T.V.
________
_______

Never paid a sticker price on an item, unless it was 2-$300.00. 3 years ago I paid 3000.00 for the Sharp Aquos 37” LCD. The internet pricing was dropping below 3000.00 but my local regional store still had the MSRP on it, which was 5000.00! They are a high volume store. I got them to sell it to me just based on the fact that if I can buy it online tax free and delivered, I will do that. But I am fine giving a local store a nominal upcharge over online.
I’m currently trying to get a Sony 52” XBR4 in the 2700.00 range tax and delivery included. This is not a problem on line. The BBuy and Sears stores just dropped to 3000.00. But my local regional store won’t do better than 2880.00 plus tax. That is not going to be good enough. I will go back every other day or so, look at the unit, make sure the seller sees me, and when he ask if I am still going to buy, I tell him when he wants to sell. And walk out. After 1 or 2 times, I am sure I will get my price.
In this case, I know the prices are dropping and the economy is bad. I want insurance that If I buy I don’t have to worry about the price going down 1000.00 in 6 months. Not too many out there silly enough to pay that kind of money for a TV. Take advantage of that.

Follow UP…
I have no issues with people trying to get a good deal.
What I don’t get is people wasting hours, days, and sometimes months haggling trying to get a hundred or two hundred, or more off? It doesn’t seem financially viable?
Also-I work for a large internet electronics store, and customers don’t seem to understand constant price degradation. Due to the fact we have free shipping, our margins on tv’s aren’t nearly as big as people make them out to be.

Ed:

It is great that you were able to get such a great deal on your home theater purchases.  However, the odds of a BB manager going and getting a “cost list” of all of the tvs in their store is pretty small.  First off, BB managers are not allowed, in most markets, to sell tvs at cost, as district staff would ream them.  Second, I don’t know if the second “Ed” is the same guy, but your “friend” who stated a 100% markup is lying to ya buddy.  Haven’t you noticed that many companies are closing up shop because of reduced product margins.  If they were marked up 100%, Pioneer would still be making all components in their new tv’s :).

You may ask what my qualifications are to be making these claims.  I am a BB manager with access to cost, etc.  Now, many of you may ridicule me, but lets get one thing straight.  90 percent of people have no idea what is going on with technology nowadays, and that is fine.  However, the self described “experts” that come in everyday trying to convince me of “what’s right” are laughable.  They read some sort of rhetoric on the internet and think they are geniuses. 

In terms of “making a deal,” sure, look online, find some great prices, but be willing to buy there if your local b-and-m won’t match it.

Hope this helped

Hi Matt…appreciate your insight.

I do agree that there’s not any evidence that the markup on consumer electronics is 100%.  I’m sure that may be true of some peripherals (like cables), but certainly not on TVs.

Your example of Pioneer getting out of the core manufacturing of plasmas, is all true.  That’s a shame since I feel they make the very best TVs currently on the market (which is the entire reason I bought one).

But, the swing from BB’s “sale price” on a Pioneer KURO and those found on the internet was so big (nearly $2,000), I would have been foolish not to be ready to buy over the net.

I didn’t even think BB would meet the internet price (including free shipping).  But, they did.  Yes, the sales person “had to check with my manager”.  Aside from that, there was very little “negotiation” involved.  It was “here’s the price I got, from this internet authorized store”, and BB met it.

As far as folks spending hours/days educating the consumer, I can see where that may be the case with some.  But, I’ve come away with more “mis-information” than anything else from the “sales experts”....even at the “high end” stores.

Researching products on the internet, reading reviews, even asking owners, did more for me than any of the sales people ever did in educating me.

For example, I bought my KURO knowing that Pioneer was about to send some of their manufacturing to, I think, Panasonic (a mistake IMHO).

My BB sales person had no idea that was happening at the time.  I had to “educate” the sales person in that regard.  I also had to point out the reviews of the KURO to my sales person (something else they weren’t aware of).

My BB sales person knew, in very general terms, the differences between LCD and plasma displays, but nothing in-depth.  Terms like “pixelation, motion blur, macro blocking, etc”, were all foreign terms to him.

I went to the local BB and saw a Pioneer upconvert DVD player.  I went home, shopped the internet and returned with a printout of $79.99 and $0 shipping charge.  I inquired if they’d match and they said they wouldn’t match internet stores.

if you actually read what i say( hight end electronics) samsung lnt 5281 eg was 5500.00 list in canada my price was 4100.00= 1582.00 savings including tax a denon amp was 3399.00 my price was 1799.00 and the electronics were only 4 to 6 weeks new on the market i could go on and on.So any bb manager who is saying they know the store cost if full of crap.The store cost is just a point of sale that they cant go under to make a certin % of profit.the only one who knows is the buyers and the guys they work for.You should also know that prices fall 4-7% a month on electronics.And how do i know all this .I do home theater installs .I have contacts at many different shops.They all say the samething…i guess they are all wrong.I never do my shopping at bb they dont give the consumer any great deals or big savings.There competition will beat there pricing anytime.

Retail shopping is a Ginormous waste of time. Yeah, I’m going to beg Best Buy to match an internet price. That’ll be the day.

If something is too expensive, look at the lesser model.  Decide what features aren’t important to you and move on.  Haggling is an offshoot of when product had good margin, but when the day comes that good stores don’t exist anymore because they can’t keep the doors open, don’t complain about the crappy alternatives.

I’ve got no dog in this hunt (except I am a consumer electronics customer).  Saying anyone (except the corporate buyer) at Best Buy KNOWS their cost, is highly suspect. 

BB is one of the biggest consumer electronics retailers in the country.  My guess is their cost is lower than anyone else’s.  That said, their expenses are much higher, too.  In short, it costs them more to sell a big screen TV than it would a mom and pop store.  That’s just the business model they operate under….high traffic areas, big buildings, etc.

If anyone should be angry, it should be the consumer against those companies who set a minimum purchase price for their goods.  That’s what really curbs fair competition.

Pioneer does it with their ELITE brand.  Some of the other smaller A/V companies do it regularly….limiting who can or can’t sell their products, and the price they can sell it at.