Best Buy won't go down in price... (1 Viewer)

[Jim FC]

I didn't say I'd go into car dealerships and give them the price on the sticker. Nor would I go into a TV store and give them sign price on a TV. I'm not a foolish consumer. But neither do I base my buying decisions on how much something may or may not be marked up. Unless you're at a soup kitchen, the other guy's always gonna make his cut of any deal, and I don't know why some people have a problem with that. When people say they want a "fair" price, they don't really want a fair price. What they invariably mean to say is that they want the cheapest possible price. Fair is only fair if both parties see it that way.

I would like to add that stores, competing for customers, certainly help create the idea of a "marked-up" vs. "fair" price. It's not all the customer's fault as I stated before. It's just a puzzling double-standard to me how some things we pay for without even thinking about it, yet other things we insist on getting a "fair" price.

FrankL, I'm sorry you've apparently been the "sucker" end of some salesman, some time in your life. You paint with a very broad brush, however. A truly informed customer knows what he can reasonably expect to pay. I'd rather spend an hour getting an ignorant customer informed and find what he or she needs than spend 15 minutes selling the same thing to a customer who thinks he knows what he wants and thinks he knows what he should pay for it. I don't really know of anybody who likes to be told how to do their job, do you?

 

[Rich Chiavaroli]

Did you pay sticker price for the last car you purchased?

Nope.. once I decided which viechle I wanted, I only delt with one place. Told them what I wanted to pay ($200 over invoice) and we got the deal done. I didn't ask them for their best price, go to another dealer, get them to beat it, then go to another dealer and see if they could beat it.

Once I made up my mind, I worked with the guy who would work with me. Now if he wouldn't work with me, then I'd move on. My time is worth far more than the money I would have saved (if in fact I could have saved more).

The same goes for things like TV's. I might be able to get someone $100 lower if I shopped someone's price all over the city. But for the hours it would have taken, it would never be worth my time.. and my personal opinion, wouldn't be fair to the guy who quoted me the good deal. I'm pretty straight forward when I buy something. When I buy a new RPTV here soon, I know the place I'll go to first. I'll explain to them that I'm going to be buying something today, and if they make me the right deal, I'm buying it right then and there. If they hem and haw about dealing, I'm out the door. But I'm not going to take up that guys time and work him for a good price so I can say "Thanks! I'll take this to the guy across the street to get a better deal!".

You take any price someone is willing to sell you something for, someone will always be able to undercut it slightly. Some store is going to say "we need to get X dollars out of this sale". You take that price to someone else, they think, heck, whats $5 less? I didn't even have to do any of the work. Guy walks in, points to a TV, gives me a price and I give him one a couple bucks less. Next customer please.

My point is, you can get a good deal without (ab)using the sales people.

 

[Mark Amayao]

Being a commissioned salesperson in consumer electronics is more difficult now more than ever ...

Ever since I have been member of this forum ... I have had the impression that there is a lingering hostility toward those who work in the brick and mortar shops and chains. I understand and your feelings im sure have merit. I can tell you from experience .. THAT THOSE WHO ARE GREEDY ON THE FLOOR AND WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET THE SALE ARE NEVER AS SUCCESSFUL AS THOSE WHO ARE GENUINELY PASSIONATE ABOUT THE PRODUCT AND LOVE SHARING THE TECHNOLOGY WITH THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO LEARN. Now price is another matter. To put it simply after all is said and done and the salesperson has done a great job, the deal that results is a measure of the salespersons presentation and passion. Most enthusiasts that happen to shop know better and we as salespeople/enthusiasts know better to.

It is a breath of fresh air that there are those who understand the sales side of it ... Im sorry for those who may disagree with me ... but those of you who DO understand, I can tell you from experience, are those who shop smartly, considerately, and found the right knowledgeable person. They may have even established a relationship with a real human being who will be there at your beckoning call if any problem should arise.

I can tell you and others may agree ... that nothing hurts more than someone who comes into the store "clueless" or feigning cluelessness, taps your brain for information and walks out never to return again ... not only is it a disappointment but it is emotionally taxing ... with someone who is passionate about the product and loves to share it with you.

In closing ... dont walk into any store like its shark infested ... the grin on a greedy salespersons face is as obvious as the fin is on his back. find someone who is enthusiastic and loves the product ... someone who is unbiased and not afraid to suggest products that he doesnt sell. There's always a diamond in the rough.

 

[MikeAlletto]

The best way I've ever seen someone deal with a person like this is to give them a shopping price. They gave them "todays" price, that no one else could beat, and that they'd actually loose money on the item for. They shopped around and came back with a big grin on their face happy that they found the lowest price. Boy, wern't they mad when they were told that, as said, that price was only good on that day.

I had an apartment complex try and pull that "valid for this day only" crap on me. I told them that it'll be valid if I come back. They said no it won't. I came back a few days later ready to sign and mentioned the deal. They refused to honor it. So I got up with the papers still there and walked out. Good thing too, because I drove around more and found an even better place and they were willing to deal even more than the first place.

Car dealers try to pull that "only valid this day" junk too. Thats completely bull. Every salesman that pulls that tells it to every person that asks about that product everyday. If I go to one person get their price then go to another person and get a higher price then return to the first person I expect them to honor the price they gave me. If not I'll walk. Just remember in negotiating this stuff the buyer always has the power.

 

[elMalloc]

If someone is a saled commissioned person, if you ignore me I will screw you over. I've sat in stores for 2 hours. I don't care what I look like, if nobody else is in the store you should have helped me already. If you give mea drastically low price on a TV set, and you did'nt help me for 2 hours, I have the feeling you're giving me a refurb, or ordering your sets from a place that isn't trustworthy. I'll takeyour price and run to price match it.
If you helped me out immediately I wouldn't have this problem. He wasn't trying very hard if they let me sit there for 2 hours without help.
They screw I screw, I want a reliable place at a good price. Instead, I can buy the TV set, and then afterwards say hey i want to price match this with the dealer. At this point, best buy won't have thought about giving me a fishy set because I wanted the low price BEFORE buying it.
Not my fault I'mt aking advantage of what they advertise (low prices/price matching).
-ELmO:star:

 

[Bob McElfresh]

I have had the impression that there is a lingering hostility toward those who work in the brick and mortar shops and chains.

Well... has this ever happend to you:

- You go test-drive a new car then the salesman sits you in a small office with the sales-manager/closer, turns off the AC and shuts the door with your kids on the outside?

- A salesman talks up a unit, then when you decide to buy immediatly tries to sell you an accessory service plan because "those units break a lot"/"we get a lot of those back"? Best Buy is even known to stand in your way and hold you up for 10-20 minutes to pressure you into their PSP's.

- Have a sales man inquire what car/equipment you now have, or have seen in other stores and then he critizes it as "poor quality that only a looser would buy"?

(all of the above are considered "good salesmen" by their employeers because the techniques work).

It's not that we hate salesmen, but the negoitation is something we are uncomfortable with. Price matching is a feature OFFERED by many stores, then they try and ignore it when you are ready to purchase. Thats what burns me up.

 

[JJR512]

THAT THOSE WHO ARE GREEDY ON THE FLOOR AND WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET THE SALE ARE NEVER AS SUCCESSFUL AS THOSE WHO ARE GENUINELY PASSIONATE ABOUT THE PRODUCT AND LOVE SHARING THE TECHNOLOGY WITH THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO LEARN.

I wish this were always true.

I used to work at CompUSA, where the salespeople are commissioned (these are the people that stand around by the computers, mind you, NOT the people walking around all over the store, like me, stocking the shelves and giving the salespeople stuff to sell). There were these two salesmen...let's call them Jack and Bob. Jack knew a lot about computers and would spend as much time with a customer as they wanted to be there, answering their questions honestly to the best of his ability, listening to what their needs were and recommeding products to them based on their needs. He didn't always recommed the most expensive computer or try to upsell to a better one if the better one offered nothing in addition to a cheaper one that did what the customer needed it to do. Jack was the Baltimore area's second or third best salesman, in terms of net sale dollars.

Bob was the Baltimore area's best salesman (again, in terms of net sale dollars). Bob didn't care about the customer and didn't care about computers. He really knew very little about computers, but he knew which were more expensive and which had the biggest profit margins. He would tell the customer anything they wanted to hear, whether it was true or not, whether he actually knew what he was talking about or didn't, just to close the sale. The guy had a certain charisma, though, that he was able to con enough people into consistently being the "best performing" salesman in CompUSA's Baltimore region.

Oh, and the sales manager in the store where I worked...let's call him Mike...He was the absolute most slick-talking son of a gun I've ever heard. This guy was smoother than a quick-change artist...I listened to him a few times. He had this way of throwing numbers around in a fast sales pitch that was very difficult to keep up with even if you were trying, and he would mention how you were saving money here, so you could get this upgrade there, then mention how the upgrade was discounted which gave you more savings to get another thing...Piling up the merchandise and using the combined "savings" on each thing to get the next thing, all the while only talking about the savings. I'm sure many of you know just what I'm talking about but I swear to God this guy could make any deal seem like the best deal since the sale of Manhatten Island.

 

[Rich Chiavaroli]

MikeAlletto -

If a customer has the right to shop a price around, the seller has the right to only offer a certian price if the person buys right then and there. You're perfectly welcome to walk out if they don't give you the price when you come back. They told you how long the price was good for. It's not like they lied to you about it.

I haven't worked in sales in quite a few years (10+), but there's one thing that sticks in my head from my expierences. Customers I've had to deal with in the past have been worse than any sales person I've ever dealt with. I'm not excusing the sleazy sales people out there, but I've delt with many more sleasy customers than I have sales people.

After a while, you got a good idea about which people were just going to get a price from you, go to the next guy, get a price from them, etc..

Now, I could have either worked real hard with this guy and have him walk out with good price that someone else will beat by $5 or I could try to sell them something right then and there. If someone's shopping a price, the best way to deal with them is to ask them what they'd buy it for today.

If they're not even thinking about buying something that day, I'd tell them to come back when they were ready to buy. Why on earth would a sales person want to be the FIRST person to give a price when someone just plans on shopping it? Guaranteed best way to loose the sale. If the person is close, then give them a "right now only" price. It's the customers decision to walk away from it if they choose.

 

[MikeAlletto]

The problem with the right now only price is that its the same right now only price they give to everyone thats asks for a deal everyday. So its not really a right now only price. I just consider that another slimey tactic.

 

[David Cohen]

Quote-"It's not that we hate salesmen, but the negoitation is something we are uncomfortable with. Price matching is a feature OFFERED by many stores, then they try and ignore it when you are ready to purchase. Thats what burns me up."

Let's try to understand "price matching". It is NOT about negotiating a price and taking that price elsewhere to see if you can do better. It's what all retailers offer to make you confident that the price you buy at today will reflect the best brick & mortar price in your area. If you find it for less within xx days, then you take advantage of the price matching policy. It also comes into play when you present a competitors advertised price at the time of purchase. If you have enough CONFIDENCE in a dealer to TRUST them to negotiate with you, you should make your purchase and be happy. If you want to make yourself crazy over what amounts to a few bucks amortized over the life of the product....shop on-line.