javaseuf wrote: A middleman offers a dealer nothing in the way of incentive, he isn't able to be pressured into a sale and doesn't write the check.
No offense intended, but I believe the fact that you used the word "pressured" here is a good indication of how the industry works and precisely why not everyone is equipped to negotiate with a dealer and come out with a good deal.
Let me ask you this: Did you ever have a customer come through the door and expect to pay the sticker price? If you did, tell me honestly what you would have done. I'm assuming your commission was based on the amount of profit the dealer made...
We recently walked into our local dealer and stated that we were ready to buy the rig we had looked at the day before. Not 10 minutes into negotiations the "70's leisure suit larry" sales manager came out and started acting as if we were buying a used Hyundi not a class A motorhome worth 100K or more. We walked out right then and there and he was actually surprised that we did. Yeah right as if I am going to buy a rig from someone like that!
We did what a lot of others here have stated; We did our research, shopped online and bought ONLINE!!!! Dealers take notice, we are not living in the 70's anymore! Today's consumer is much better informed than they used to be and if you expect to survive you had better change your ways!
Any way we can save money we will. Keep at it with your idea. All good companies started somewhere....
Ed/N7UMS
31' Fleetwood Flair, Georgetown 378TS on order
'98 Jeep Wrangler Toad
www.nwjeepn.com
The Trail Starts Here!
"I can fix it, and if I can't fix it, I can fix it so nobody can fix it!"
Nope, he isn't asking for a cent. He's doing this, as far as I can tell, out of the goodness of his heart, with the best interest of his fellow RVers in mind.
I'll have to admit that I was getting a big discouraged until I read the last few posts here. Now I'm loaded for bear and ready to go. I'll be back online in a few days. RV sales managers in '70's leisure suits...look out!
I WILL PAY $1,000 CASH TO ANYONE WHO CAN PROVE THAT I HAVE MADE ONE RED CENT FROM MY SERVICE. THIS OFFER STANDS FOREVER.
I am about to become the worst nightmare of any RV dealer that disrespects customers, writes misleading and fraudulent sales contracts, and in any way conducts business not in keeping with the law. This also includes trying to disguise the true price of the RV, making immoral profits selling overpriced RV insurance, extended warranties, high interest rate loans, etc.
And if any of you dealers are listening, you'd better understand that if I get enough RV buyers mad enough to tell me their stories of poor treatment by you, I will figuratively be in on every bad deal that goes across your desk. Any unscrupulous behavior on your part will be documented. Your deals will be published on the Internet (not with your business's name on them--just to show what some of you guys are capable of.) You will be promptly reported to the Better Business Bureau, the state Attorney General, or any other agency charged with protecting the public from predatory tactics by RV dealers, vehicle dealers, etc.
My new Web site will educate anyone planning to buy an RV how to negotiate with you, how to recognize when they're being manipulated, how to understand just how high your profits can be on a deal, and what methods you employ to hide the truth from the customer.
You won't be able to sue me because your names will never be mentioned specifically. The good dealers (those who honestly try to do right by the customer--and there are a few of them out there--will be rewarded because they will be FREQUENTLY MENTIONED on the Web site. The public will soon learn that those not mentioned should probably not be patronized.
This has become my only hobby. I will finance it myself. Only those dealers whose business plan includes customer rip-offs have any reason to fear. Clean up your acts or prepare to suffer the consequences!
I am about to become the worst nightmare of any RV dealer that disrespects customers, writes misleading and fraudulent sales contracts, and in any way conducts business not in keeping with the law. This also includes trying to disguise the true price of the RV, making immoral profits selling overpriced RV insurance, extended warranties, high interest rate loans, etc.
My new Web site will educate anyone planning to buy an RV how to negotiate with you,
Earlier, you thought e-mailing a dealer and asking him how much he wanted was a good way to negotiate a good deal.
To me, you don't seem to understand how to get a good deal.
I realize there are many folks that could have done a lot better on their deals--like me in the past.
It's pretty simple. Do your homework. Make your offer. Then leave.
States I have spent the night in my current rig, bought three years ago.
Have RV'ed through 49 states and been in all 50, just short of my half-century.
Earlier, you thought e-mailing a dealer and asking him how much he wanted was a good way to negotiate a good deal.
To me, you don't seem to understand how to get a good deal.
I realize there are many folks that could have done a lot better on their deals--like me in the past.
It's pretty simple. Do your homework. Make your offer. Then leave.
Luke, you are absolutely right. I am still very wet behind the ears. I thought that dealers were interested in selling RVs, particularly now when the economy is slowing down and fuel is so expensive. I was wrong. Your advice to "Do your homework. Make your offer. Then leave," may be the way to go, but there are a lot of RV buyers that don't plan in advance and therefore spend lots more on the RV, the RV financing, extended warranties, and other items. They aren't prepared for the professional salesman who knows all the tricks. What I'm going to do now is pretty much what you are suggesting, except I'm not going to tell them to do their homework--I'm going to be the teacher who assigns the homework. Now, you may not have much confidence in my ability to get this done, but let me tell you something: I'm going to learn this business inside and out and when I'm done there are going to be lots of dealers who are going to wish that they had "done their homework" and learned how to deal over the Internet.
You and I are getting old. We may not live to see the day when darned near everything a person does will be done over the Internet. But I guarantee you that day is coming and it's not that far off. It will make it much harder for dealers to take advantage of buyers who are ignorant of their tactics. I'm going to try to develop ways of using the Internet to the buyer's advantage. That's all, pure and simple.
I'm beat-up and bloody right now, but my wounds will heal and I'll be back stronger than ever. I have all the time in the world to get this thing right and I will. You can take that to the bank.
First of all I don't see that mentioning the name of unscrupulous dealers is a bad thing (or even illegal) if the information is related first had through the experience of those that have had those experiences. Just do a search for 'Poulsbo RV' and see what you find. Whole web sites devoted to their poor customer service, predatory practices and downright abysmal service history. They are the dealer we walked away from and I won't EVER step foot on one of their lots again!
How about taking on criminally incompetent service, too? I'll give you an earful about my experiences with the service department at the dealer where I bought my truck camper.
I wouldn't be so incensed except that not only are they the nearest dealer for the brand of camper I have, the are the nearest dealer of any kind of truck camper. "Nearest" is over 100 miles, the next closest I know of is 200 miles away.
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