Price Quotes

[drcollie]

Effective today's date all price quotes for specific pieces will not be quoted in the public forum. You must Private Message me or send me an email for quotes. Email: dcollie@keepingroom.com or simply send me a Private Message through this forum interface (please do not request a quote in the Visitor Messages panel.)

As this forum gains popularity other dealers are complaining to the manufacturers on my selling prices, and in order to maintain my good relations with suppliers I have agreed to not publicly post selling prices from this date forward.

I will continue to post 'special buys' from time to time in the Vendor Classified section.

Thanks!

[Briant73]

Duane,

I'm disappointed they rather complain about someone having very fair prices than try to compete on price/service.

I know a few furniture stores I have visited have given me price quotes with the understanding I should not use these prices to beat up on other dealers that sell the same brand. Now I know why that is; instead of coming down in price, the dealers with the higher prices would go back and complain of unfair pricing being done by the competition.

I'm willing to pay more for better customer service and the ability of the place to be close by but there is a limit to how much of a premium.

[KNEEBITER]

To be honest, Before I gave Duane a call I shopped locally and then got prices out of state. I went back to my local store which does not work on commision and is less than 2 miles from my house and told the salesman that had been helping me that I shopped the items and found better pricing. I did not tell him what or where just that I found better. I then said "can you work with me" He replied with a rude sarcasm "NO the price is the price" Which was full retail by the way.

I said, I have been in this store 10 times in the last month. Everytime I was in here there were no customers. Are you sure you do not want to go speak with the owner and ask if he is willing to work before I walk out. If he can come close I would rather buy from you. He said NO. I replied with "a piece of the pie is better than none and I walked out.

I then was ready to place my order and remembered reading about Duane. I called him before I placed my order with a company that I had used in the past and had great results with and Duane was such a nice guy I placed my order. The company that is local to me could learn a lesson from Duane. I can understand not posting prices. If you are a serious buyer then it wont be a big deal to make the call.

[drcollie]

What happens is some shoppers think they're clever by printing out a quoted price and then walking into their local store - presenting it and asking for a price match. This infuriates their local dealer who now has proof of another dealer's pricing handed to him by a potential customer. Does that dealer re-evaluate his pricing models? Heck no - he gets on the phone with the supplier and raises hades, and then reads off the numbers or faxes them in. The local dealer has money tied-up in floor inventory from that brand, probably has helped that customer in the store explaining product and showing samples, and is rightly upset. Why should he invest his equity and manpower in a line of goods if he's always being cut in price by someone out of town? Its a very viable argument.

Now the supplier doesn't want to get into the middle of all this, but if the cranked-up dealer is big enough, and mad enough, or if he hears it from several dealers one time too many, that supplier MAY contact the dealer offering better prices and ask him to change what they are doing in some manner. Sometimes there is not even a phone call to that dealer, they just get a letter in the mail telling them their dealership is terminated in 90 days or they find themselves de-listed as a dealer on supplier web sites or suddenly being slow-shipped.

If the dealer on the receiving end does get a call has two choices:

1) Be a team player and take some pressure off the supplier or,

2) Tell the supplier to go pound sand and take his chances on losing his dealership due to 'marketing realignments' and the like.

An example: For a decade I was the largest dealer in the world on D.R. Dimes & Co. furniture. I also had the best prices anywhere and shipped all over the country, even overseas. Eventually enough dealers made enough complaints about my low prices that D.R. Dimes set a minimum selling price policy into place that I declined to comply with (I felt the mandated selling margins were too high and it would cripple the volume of sales). That made for tension and bad blood between myself and them and eventually led to me voluntarily terminating my dealership with them in 2001. The ultimate loser was the retail customer, who lost a chance to buy this product at a good price. That minimum price policy remains in effect with Dimes to this day.

Moral of the story? Sometimes its best to do your price shopping quietly to preserve the status quo and not rub it in the face of another dealer. The dollars you save in the long run may be your own!

[mybs]

I guess that some people have gotten a bit too used to the concept of "price matching" which many large stores tend to offer on products such as electronics and believe that it can be extended to everything else. Little regard is given to the overhead that local furniture stores may have such as higher priced rent or their need to pay employee salaries.

While posting the prices openly may have been discouraged, I'm grateful that you continue to graciously answer private messages regarding sofa prices as the difference between dealers can be extremely dramatic. It's always great to know that there is a reasonable alternative, who is much better informed than the many sales reps that I've spoken with before. I've been in stores where the sales reps simply had no clue what they were really selling and yet a measly sale (~20%) off the Hancock and Moore MSRP IS the actual selling price, which I find ridiculously high. Nonetheless, I'm guessing that majority of their clientele simply don't care as they're still in business in today's economy.

[Briant73]

I know it's tough being a customer now a days trying to get the best overall deal with each place we buy from having a different way of selling/pricing.

How can we help not being confused when you have retail chains who advertise about matching the competition pricing and yet some of these stores don't even price match their own website prices. How about how some retail stores get a product but have the manufacturer make one small change so they can have a different model number and don't have to price match the competition if you do find it for less money somewhere else.

Then there's always the one time I remember where the guy said multiple times "That's my best price, can't get any better than that" and as I thanked him and was getting ready to leave he throws out "If you do get a better deal, let me know and I'll beat them". I almost stopped and wanted to ask him how can you beat your own best price but just shook my head as I headed out the door.

[drcollie]

I believe the very best place to buy from is the store or dealer that values your business and treats you properly. Where you can walk in and they know you by name, or at least acknowledge you from a prior visit rather than just a 'mark' to ring up a sale. You get a lot of added value from buying where you can establish a relationship with a dealer - and the proof comes home when you need some assistance with solving a problem or issue (sometimes not even related to your purchase). Where they go the extra mile for you. Maybe you have to spend a few more dollars there, but its worth it.

I buy all my lawn and garden equipment from Belmont Power in Newington VA for that reason. I've made at least ten buys from them on chain saws, mowers, trimmers, aerators, snow blowers and the like because when I walk in there with a problem or question they recognize me and take the time to take care of me. That's not going to happen at Home Depot where I might can save 10 % on that string trimmer. I pay a little more but then I expect Belmont to be there when I need them and over the past dozen years - they have. I trust them, they take care of me, and don't sell me junk.

[johnstonamerica]

Just out of curiousity Duane - Have you found that you almost always have the best prices on H&M when compared to dealers all over the USA?

[drcollie]

There's a pretty wide spectrum on pricing, and I only know about it when I hear from customers about the prices they are encountering. I don't spend the time to see what the other dealers sell for or go price shopping on a regular basis. Maybe once a year I'll pop into another furniture store for a look-around, but since I spend 6 days a week in my own store, last place I want to be on Sundays is looking at furniture!

[ckeefer]

I am very surprised at the differences in pricing. My husband and I have been pricing H&M in the NJ/PA area and the prices are $1500-2000 higher around here than from Duane. We are a young couple that don't have a lot of extra money. I don't know how the mark up can be that much of a difference!