So, I plan on buying a guitar this weekend, a Jackson Warrior MG, from Sam Ash. Some people might recommend to get a used one, but I really want a new one.

Anyways, samash.com has the price listed as $ 780. I'm not buying it online, but rather from one of their store outlets.

So, does anyone have any suggestions for haggling? Are there any general rules for trying to lower the price? Like, what should I offer, what he will counter with, and what should be my final offer, etc?

here's how to haggle: be ready to walk away. be ready to walk away. be ready to walk away.

if you don't get your price, then you are gone. that is your only leverage.

process:

1. try to establish yourself as a QUALIFIED buyer. don't just walk in there, pick up the guitar, walk to a random salesman, and then say, "give me a discount." wait for a salesman to approach you. start talking bullshit with the guy about the guitar. draw it out, and learn more about the product. ask questions that you already know the answer to. perhaps drop a line like: "I got some extra birthday money from my grandma last week, and i've been thinking about this guitar for 6 months." or "yeah, it's going good-- i just got a new job last week, and i'm at a better company with a better salary, so i'm pretty happy about that." Try and share a detail like that about your life that will instantly make the salesman think: "This person has some money, so he is a potential buyer that is real."

2. be nice. say: "i'd really like to purchase this guitar, I'm just thinking about maybe for a little bit less." rather than "So. Dude. What can you do for me on this price?"

3. being a qualified buyer is important-- if you are some asshole off the street trying to weazle money out of sam ash, the salesman will not respect you. if you are POLITE, and show him that you have the money, and would like to spend some of it at his store, it helps a lot. Try and wear a normal looking shirt-- don't come in there with a "Morbid Angel" shirt from 1992, cause you get stereotyped as a "cheap metal asshole."

4. do your research-- you need to know exactly what price guitar center is quoting, what price ebay is quoting, what price you can buy for cheaper at an online shop. Politely offer to the salesman that "well, i was looking at guitar center's online site, and they offered 650 for this guitar. I was hoping that you might be able to find a comparable price to that."

5. go back and forth a little bit with the salesguy. 90% of the time, the salesguys are not allowed to strike deals. Show the salesman absolute respect the entire time, and realize that he is just doing is job. he may not be allowed to negotiate at his current position.

6. ask for a manager. Go through it all again. Even if the salesman tells you that the manager will not make a deal, ask for a manager anyway.

7. lets say he says: "I can do it for 700" (but your target was 650). You have secured an agreement. politely keep nudging him, and now you can apply a little pressure, by saying: "I appreciate you working with me on the price. thanks for helping me on this. I just really feel that isn't the right price for me. I can go online and get it for 650. I just don't know if it's worth it for me. I can just wait 5 days and save 50 bucks." (signaling you might walk out the door.)

8. go through this a couple times. Repeat that the person is offering 700 bucks for it, though casual conversation. just reinforces the point.

9. Now it's up to you weather or not you want to walk away at this point. if you are happy with 700, just say, OK lets make a deal. if you are really firm on paying less, be respectful, tell them, "look, i really want to make this deal at a cheaper price. I think it is still reasonable for you, and I'm going to leave you my phone number. Call me if anything changes. I would love to do business here, and I appreciate the wiggle room you gave me earlier. I'm sorry but I don't feel like we've found the right price i feel comfortable with. Just call me if you guys can make a deal at a lower rate. thanks for talking with me." and then leave your name and phone number or business card with the manager. wait a day, and if they haven't called you, go back in, talk with the same manager, and say you decided that you were willing to pay the price sam ash offered. hopefully you have shown enough respect to everyone involved that the manager will honor the price he offered the day before.

10. The more respect you show, the more willing people are to be nice to you.

11. Maybe think about going in there this week... it is the end of the month right now, maybe these guys have some monthly sales quotas they need to achieve at the end of the month, or something? This timing could be beneficial to you.

12. These guys will immediately say: "oh, i can wiggle. here's the new number i'm offering. that is as low as I can go." Just keep pressing for another 10 min, talk about how you "just can't feel comfortable with that price."

13. Keep referring back to how you "don't feel comfortable with that," "just don't agree with that." It is a respectful and gentle way of disagreeing with someone that does not cause aggression and frustration. when you say: "no way man. I know you can go lower than that!" It may be seen as a slap in the face to the salesperson, it might make him feel like you are just attempting to bully him into a price.

14. Don't bully someone into getting your price. Gently ask them repeatedly over and over and guide them to your price.

yeah,

it might be hard to haggle a price of a stock item. what you should look for is some type of damage on the guitar itself. like a scratch or indent. knock off like 20.

if the strings are old, ask for a new pack of strings and see if they'll throw in a gig bag and a patch cord or something. you're not going to get great deals from large chain dealers since they have the overhead to carry these items forever. go to smaller dealers, locally, and see what deals they'll give you. shop around.

i always feel better about a purchase where i feel that i had some kind of deal.

of course, if you plan on owning that guitar for 20 years, then getting a small reduction in price don't mean squat.

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Whoa, thanks for typing out that advice, I'll definitely use it!

What should my offer be? Should it be the price I found on their online catalogue ($780), or the lowest price I can find online? Or can I try to bargain it down lower?

Offer cash. Nothing will motivate a salesman like a greenback. I got my Ibanez $200 lower then the tag all because I brought cash.

And if you don't like the price walk away.

Smaller music stores are better if your bringing cash

Cash is a good tip, 10x more likely to rub a deal out with cash.

to be honest, all those tips are useless for shit like sam ash. At least around here (central florida), they are like car salesman. As long as they make a few bucks, they trip over themselves to get you to walk out with something in hand. I bought a used Ibanez there, the guy gave me 50 bucks off, a free Monster Cable, and a Guitar hanger for my wall.

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Excellent advice - no point in haggling if you're not prepared to pay cash, particular if the company offers interest-free finance.

With regards to the price, the online price will reflect that their are less overheards incurred by selling over the internet and so may give an indication as to the sort of price they'll move to in the stores. From a management point of view, the seller will have a figure in mind that they absolutely will not sell for less than (what's known as "contribution") but the manager is certain to add a mark up to this figure in order to obtain the minimum required margin.

However, it's difficult to guage what the price and margin are without looking at a set of the company's accounts so the best method is to use the online price as a basis. This price will reflect that their are less overheards incurred by selling over the internet and will obviously be closer to cost plus mark up price than the store price.

Another good method is to ask for added extras free of charge. See if you can get a couple of new leads, a set of strings, a better strap or a new chromatic tuner. You don't pay any less but the amount you pay for the guitar is reduced by the value of the extras.

The most important thing is to be confident; if you're not they'll call your bluff.

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It is not hard to haggle the price on even new gear. I have done it. Used gear is the hard thing to haggle with. Just ask what is the lowest price they can sell it for. It should be about $600 in this case and they will still make a profit. Do offer cash on spot. They will have a hard time turning $600 cash down.

If they refuse to deal then contact another big distributor like Musicians Friend and tell them the competitors lowest price offered. 9 times out of 10 they will better the deal in some way.

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Fucking hell tripton's a pro! Damn asain.

this is how i haggle.

1750 dollar amp

"give it to me for 1000"

"ugh, uhhh, sure its yours!"

"give me this guitar strap and a set of strings too."

"*gulp* sure its all yours..."

"im not going to pay cash, im gonna pay eftpos, and im gonna pay over a 3 month period."

"oh sir.... sure sign here."

thanks. Ill take that now. bye.



worked for me. basically went exactly like that.

I help out at a small guitar shop occassionally, and it's very true about cash. They hate having to wait a week for card transactions to clear, only for the money to disappear into their bank overdraft, so cash in their hands that day is a great incentive to knock a little off the price.

Fighting the internet is really hard these days, guitar shops WANT to sell gear, they'd rather they had your money than an internet site, but overheads, and the fact that small shops don't get the amazing bulk trade discounts that huge chains (and internet warehouse places) can get, mean their prices have to be higher in the first place. At least in a small shop you get to play the instrument you are buying, and talk to the guy face to face, and ther ei sno risk of some delivery guy ripping you off or damaging it before you get it...

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You live a country of mental retards in this case ( Nomad, don't kill me )

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