MSRP

[Ryan VSO]

So if I get you right , let say that you could have a branded jacuzzi hot tub online for 6,000 $ or the same jacuzzi for 8,500 $ in your local dealer... you would pay 8500 $ from your local dealer ?

[rosewoodsteel]

Dealer work on a 35 % minimum margin up to 55 % and even 65 % on swim spas.
If the manufactuer price is 4000 $ for a regular tub , the distributor will make 10 % and dealer usually make 35 % .
so you are ending up paying : 4000/.90% = 4444 $ / .65 % = 6836 $ ( you have to add shipping , accessories , storage etc )
Swim spa usually cost 8-10 k to build depending if they use a galvanised steel frame or wood frame wich I would not recommend . Hope this help

So the price of a regular spa is inflated approximately 45% if it is purchased from a dealer?  Damn.

   Why are you so wrapped around what and how much a dealer marks up his spas to make a living, and pay his bills what difference does it really make?  It is what it is for any particular dealer.   To try and guess is a waste of time..   A dealer will only go so low on a spa, he knows what his margin is.       So again not sure what you are trying to accomplish here?

[rosewoodsteel]

Dealer work on a 35 % minimum margin up to 55 % and even 65 % on swim spas.
If the manufactuer price is 4000 $ for a regular tub , the distributor will make 10 % and dealer usually make 35 % .
so you are ending up paying : 4000/.90% = 4444 $ / .65 % = 6836 $ ( you have to add shipping , accessories , storage etc )
Swim spa usually cost 8-10 k to build depending if they use a galvanised steel frame or wood frame wich I would not recommend . Hope this help

So the price of a regular spa is inflated approximately 45% if it is purchased from a dealer?  Damn.

Jim,

It is no secret that when you are a seller, you want the most for whatever it is you are selling.  When you are a buyer, you want to get the best deal.  I am sure you can respect that.

In my opinion, it is the job of a dealer to get as much money out of a customer as he possibly can.  If an uninformed buyer happens by, the customer will probably pay a premium.  He, in fact, may be applying copious amounts of hemorrhoidial ointment to his drearier the following morning (Nothing hurts quite as much as finding out you paid a lot more for a high dollar item than you needed to).

That said, it is the job of an educated consumer to get the best possible deal he can for an item.  You see, Jim, although I empathize with your need to pay bills (and I sincerely do), I need to take care of my family and pay my bills, as well.

In this particular case, I just wanted to know if a manufacturer was offering me a dealer price for an internet deal.      A dealer price, even though he doesn’t have the burden of your overhead, or have to pay (thank you Vortex), a 10% distributer fee, or have to directly support warranty issues, as you do. 

As I have stated, the manufacturer I am dealing with, does not have a dealership in my area.     I will be taking a risk at having a third party respond to any warranty issues.  I will have to transport the spa from the street to my backyard, do the electrical hook up and make sure it is operating properly.  Because of this, I EXPECT to be getting a very good price.   But, because hot tub prices are so strictly guarded, I would have to contact the freekin “Wiki Leak” guy to get an ideal of what a reasonable price is.

Because professionals, like yourself, are a part of this forum, I thought this would be the good place to post my questions and get a few questions answered.     I certainly mean no disrespect to you or anyone else here (unless, of course, they show me disrespect). 

[Jacuzzi Jim]

If you do enough and the right searches you can see what people have paid for their spa's. that should give you a good indication of what you will have to or not have to pay.  I get that people are looking for deals, I get that purchase's on the internet are going to be less, I also get you have a family to look out for, so do I.   And FWIW I don't own the company, I am a salesman/purchaser/service mngr/problem solver.   I also know our cost.      If you tell us what you are looking at, be it Jacuzzi, H,springs Marquis what ever, we will tell you if it's a decent deal or not for the most part..   The guy that just bought a J-345 at 8 grand, he got a very good deal.  I could tell you the mfg. cost but then I would have to kill you.  But he got a decent deal..   

  If you don't want to let us know what you are looking at then that's fine, but it's not going to hurt either..

[clover]

You are missing a factor in this equation, which is the value of the dealer, and the fact that he is there for his customers "when they need him", thus the reason he is in business.  Hopefully, he will be there when his customers need him, so, he has to earn more than the cost of his expenses that go up every day.  Imagine that.

You can certainly choose to buy online, or direct, and you acknowledge you have bypassed the dealer.  What you don't get in the factory direct price is what a dealer does for his customer now, and in the future. 

I would applaud you for wanting to be frugal to get the most out of the $ you spend, but I can’t imagine you bargaining the price of a meal at a restaurant, where I hope you also pay extra to tip.

I would suggest banking your savings for future needs.  Today, I have had 7 calls, even though we are closed, for desperation advice over what to do with when something goes wrong.  Yes, we take care of our customers, but you are not a customer. 

You would be an orphan looking for service, which at times can be frustrating.  I would try to find you someone willing to assume the responsibility of touching your spa, but it would not be us.  You see, we would have no “relationship” with you. 

BTW, of the 7 calls, 5 were fixed for free on the phone, and the other 2 will be addressed first thing in the morning, but it is 16° out tonight, so we took ceramic heaters out to both customers.  THAT is what we dealers call service, but that is because customers are like family to most of us.  It appears you do not feel the need for service, nor do you appreciate the need for a relationship to call upon when needed for advice.

It appears saving your money is more important to you than good, long term relationships.

[rosewoodsteel]

Please let me repeat this one more time.  The manufacturer with the hot tub that I am interested in DOES NOT have a dealer in my area.    If there was a nearby dealer, I would be there.   Unfortunately, there isn't.   I maintained my old hot tub for years, as I have maintained my 25 year old truck, 18 year old Honda and 17 year old Chrysler, and everything else in my home.       I have all the respect in the world for service people.  They work their tails off and have un godly hours. I tip my hats to you, Clover and everyone else who works hard for a living.    Regarding restaurant meals, I believe we are talking apples and oranges here, as there are many choices in the market place and all food service businesses post their prices for all to see.    My wife was a waitress for many years, so yes, I tip well when we go out to eat.   By the way, I believe there is a vast difference between being frugal and spending your money wisely.    -Wish you all a good night.   Tomorrow morning comes early.   

[rosewoodsteel]

Jim,
Thank you for your advice.   I have been doing a number of searches and have also participated in hot tub forums (that hasn't been working out too well ).   At any rate, I appreciate everything I have learned here.    Thanks.

[Tman122]

So if I get you right , let say that you could have a branded jacuzzi hot tub online for 6,000 $ or the same jacuzzi for 8,500 $ in your local dealer... you would pay 8500 $ from your local dealer ?

I don't like Jacuzzi but my purchasing prowess would not have 2500 dollars difference between online and at the store. But I would pay more to sit in it and see if it was right for me. And I would pay more to have it delivered and set up. I also would pay more for the warranty available from a dealer. None of those things do you get online. I know you will tell me you get the same service, you don't so don't bother.

[Ryan VSO]

You did not answered the questions and the price difference would be that much.

[clover]

I don't like.....But I would pay more to sit in it and see if it was right for me. And.....pay more to have it delivered and set up.....also would pay more for the warranty available from a dealer.....

Tman, when you state your opinion of what you like or don't like, it is based upon what you know and don't know, which in this case leaves the spa shopper at a disadvantage.  While we all want to get the most for the money we spend, some look to shop and learn from all of the resources available, like this website, to make their decisions.  That is certainly understandable.

However, based upon what the shopper knows, they will "shop around" to become informed by a variety of opinions, and sit in everybody else’s spa free for nothing until they feel determined “they are all alike". 

Then they save the money to enter uncharted territory to learn about delivery, set up, and reading the manufactures hand book that tells them where the equipment is, and what is not covered by the warranty.  This, as you have learned, is a learning experience.

As for warranty, shoppers never anticipate the need to arise, and only imagine that it will be covered, until again they deal with the situation in what we will call a learning experience.  These experiences are filled with frustration that we commonly see addressed here on the forum.

Because the savings of let's say $2,500 in this discussion being the primary focus, we would all want to save that kind of money.  But this is where I get confused, is the shopper trying to find out what we make on a sale in hopes of making it less when he buys, or is he trying to convince himself that buying direct form Ching-Ling Direct, or the Cost not so much warehouse, that they are really on to a better way to get into hot water cheaper.  This again will be a learning experience.

To some level, we are all self sufficient, and then we need help.  I applaud those who are able to fend for themselves, in spite of the cost to others they do not even care about, for their own self serving interests.  I suppose we have all done this sometime in our life, but many of us consider these to be lessons learned.

To some, we have a value, and those would be our customers, to others, we don't have value and that is what they want to take out of the price.  This too is a learning experience.

I admire adventuresome, rugged, individualists that thrive in the Alaska wilderness, but I have no interest in being a survivalist in my suburban setting.  In my younger years, many decades ago, I once changed my own oil to save the money, and because “I felt” I could do it myself, only to cross thread the drain plug going back in.  Everything that happened after that was a learning experience for me.

[rosewoodsteel]

quote]
.....I applaud those who are able to fend for themselves, in spite of the cost to others they do not even care about, for their own self serving interests... [/quote]

Sorry Clover, I believe I understood you until I got to your line above.   

[clover]

Rosewood, unless you were to accept my invitation in my first post on this subject, you remain oblivious to the cost of the dealer to accommodate people walking in the door and spending his time to learn.  While we respect all shoppers, only the buyers become customers that support our business expenses, all others pay nothing and benefit from the experience. 

I am sorry if you take my statement to be harsh, but it is true.  This is part of our cost in doing business, but to the shopper, it was there before he walked in, and it was there when he left, so he is not responsible to "contribute" to the cost of overhead that has been provided for his shopping experience.  He does not feel it cost anyone anything for him to enter and look around.  That is part of the oblivion.

[rosewoodsteel]

Understood.

[Sam]

Keeping 4-6 spas filled and running so that a knowledgeable salesperson can guide them through the test soak process is another huge service offered by a dealer for free.  Everyone stresses the test soak on here. 

[Tman122]

I don't like.....But I would pay more to sit in it and see if it was right for me. And.....pay more to have it delivered and set up.....also would pay more for the warranty available from a dealer.....

Tman, when you state your opinion of what you like or don't like, it is based upon what you know and don't know, which in this case leaves the spa shopper at a disadvantage.  While we all want to get the most for the money we spend, some look to shop and learn from all of the resources available, like this website, to make their decisions.  That is certainly understandable.

However, based upon what the shopper knows, they will "shop around" to become informed by a variety of opinions, and sit in everybody else’s spa free for nothing until they feel determined “they are all alike". 

Then they save the money to enter uncharted territory to learn about delivery, set up, and reading the manufactures hand book that tells them where the equipment is, and what is not covered by the warranty.  This, as you have learned, is a learning experience.

As for warranty, shoppers never anticipate the need to arise, and only imagine that it will be covered, until again they deal with the situation in what we will call a learning experience.  These experiences are filled with frustration that we commonly see addressed here on the forum.

Because the savings of let's say $2,500 in this discussion being the primary focus, we would all want to save that kind of money.  But this is where I get confused, is the shopper trying to find out what we make on a sale in hopes of making it less when he buys, or is he trying to convince himself that buying direct form Ching-Ling Direct, or the Cost not so much warehouse, that they are really on to a better way to get into hot water cheaper.  This again will be a learning experience.

To some level, we are all self sufficient, and then we need help.  I applaud those who are able to fend for themselves, in spite of the cost to others they do not even care about, for their own self serving interests.  I suppose we have all done this sometime in our life, but many of us consider these to be lessons learned.

To some, we have a value, and those would be our customers, to others, we don't have value and that is what they want to take out of the price.  This too is a learning experience.

I admire adventuresome, rugged, individualists that thrive in the Alaska wilderness, but I have no interest in being a survivalist in my suburban setting.  In my younger years, many decades ago, I once changed my own oil to save the money, and because “I felt” I could do it myself, only to cross thread the drain plug going back in.  Everything that happened after that was a learning experience for me.

Thats good stuff. We did a Value Stream Map on an oil change (Google Value Stream Map) And it costs 50% less to have it done at an 39.95 oil change place than it does to do it yourself. Assuming you put a value to your time. And we like to double the value of our time because we could of been doing something else.