Common Questions (a.k.a. FAQ's)

[drcollie]

MSRP in the furniture business is ridiculously high and done so because of pressure from Decorators to have artificially inflated Suggested Retail Prices. Most the people that use Decorators 1) Don't ever set foot in a furniture store and 2) Don't want to pay the Decorator an hourly / job wage for their services. So the Decorator needs that high MSRP to come off looking like a hero by giving them 20% off the price. It's how they have to make their living. So that's why you see even bigger discounts when you go into stores yourself. Generally I tell folks that around 50 % off MSRP is usually a pretty fair price for product, +/- a few percentage points either way.

Credit cards have become a major expense for retailers. Everyone (myself included) carries rewards / cash back cards in their wallet. Guess who pays for those rewards? YOU DO, via the merchant price structure. The issuing bank is not paying those rewards, they charge the merchant for them. When I get a merchant bankcard statement, there are approximately twenty-three levels of charges for various rewards cards and my average payout is 3 %. So, to get your best price on furniture take your checkbook with you and ask for a cash/check discount (debit cards and PayPal carry fees, they are not cash). I now quote all my pricing in Cash/Check and then add in 3% for credit cards, because most people want the lowest possible price. I find most customers prefer this and it has cut my credit card processing in half. Know what your rewards payout is on your card which is usually around 2 % and how much the merchant will discount for cash - usually you will come out ahead that way.

To look at a H&M NC7000 Ghent Recliner, the current published MSRP varies from $ 5,130 in GR 1 and goes all the way up to $ 8,940 in GR 5 leather, so knowing which leather is on the piece is critical to knowing if the price is good, or not. Using that 50% off MSRP as key, we see that GR 1 comes in about $ 2,565, correct? So that makes that $ 2,999 price "Marked Down" from $ 4,999 not a great deal, but not a terrible one, either. Where they came up with $ 4,999 as MSRP is anyone's guess as its not the published figure.

Then, if in a promotional leather, the price can be even lower than in the standard 1 through 5 leather grades and both the NC7000 and 1080 Sami are run on promotions, but only in selected leathers, so its critical to know the cover in order to get accurate pricing. Add in the ever-challenging Chinese tariffs mandated by the Trump Administration of currently 3% going to 25% (Jan 1) and you have an even more confusing price picture. About half the GR 1 and GR 2 hides are from Chinese tanneries, so that becomes a factor.

Best thing to do is a little price shopping once you know the model you want, and the cover. You are not going to see actual selling prices on a public website anywhere, nor do I discuss them on the forum for Hancock and Moore as they forbid that. However you can get actual pricing from any H&M dealer by picking up the phone or even getting an email quote.

Hancock and Moore is a complex line to learn and you will find the majority of salespeople have a basic working knowledge of the line but nothing in-depth. Any questions you have specific to to the line you can ask here on the forum and I will usually know the answer.

[kperess]

Thanks, again for sharing your knowledge and for your candor. You helped answer a number of my overarching questions and I'm feeling more confident as I move forward. I'll definitely be in touch.

Ken