Art of the Deal

Fergienewbee

Well-known Member
A local hardware has a log splitter that it has had for over a year. Right now it is 0% financing for six months. I'd like to make an offer but don't want to insult the owner. He's asking around $1400.00 for a 25 ton with a 190 Honda motor. I'd like to get a couple hundred off if possible. If he won't deal I might take the 0% deal. I have the cash so it would just be waiting and paying it off later. It takes up space that could be better used for other merchandise. Any advice/thoughts?

Larry
 
Ya never know unless you ask. Who knows what his margin is. SSome of the chain hardware stores, strongly encourage some merchandise to their retailers. He might just want it gone, and be willing to cut his profit. After all, you can always take it at list with the 0%. Whatcha got to lose. gobble
 
I'd just tell him 1400 sounds like a fair price, and you're not desperate for a new splitter right now, but if he'd be willing to let it go for 1200, you couldn't say no.

No insult there.

He'll probably counter with 1300 - but that's when you tell him you're only asking because you happen to have enough cash on you to cover 1200 right now, and just couldn't go higher.

Either way that leaves you in a good position - if you get the deal, great.

If not - you can always go back any time you want and offer more.
 
I'd start at offering $900 cash and negotiate from there. 200 dollars isn't much of a discount.
 
An offer is an offer, not an insult. Hackeling is hackeling. If you intend to buy at 1200, I would offer 1000. If you offer below your margin, that gives you some room to come up as he might come down. If you can meet in the middle, then you will acquire the splitter at your intended price. He might keep 1 splitter in stock at all times and be unwilling to budge a dime or hackle. If he is thinking he wants it gone, and not going to mess with splitters anymore, he might be willing to hackle to get it gone. One thing is in your favor. We are entering a season where a wood splitter might be kinda tuff to sell. Its time to put stuff like that, and the snow shovels away for the summer.
 
Walked into the Ace hardware store last month and got a new, two hundred and ten dollar weedeater, for seventy five dollars because nobody wanted it.
 
redforlife- I only offer this as friendly advice and I am not trying to be the word police. It's not "hackle" but it's 'haggle'-
to talk or argue with someone especially in order to agree on a price.

HTH

Greg
 
In a situation such as that, sometimes I will begin the conversation by jokingly asking, "Hey, just how bad do you want to get rid of this thing?" If they really want to sell they will take it from there, then negotiations begin. One reason a lot of small businesses have a problem selling something like that is maybe they only bought one or two and had to pay more for them, thus they have to price it higher than the larger chain hardwares or box stores who buy in quantity at a lower price.
 
LOL. No offense takin. I wasn't exactly in the top of my class in english. I guess if I was, I wouldn't of turned out to be a farmer. LOL
 
A lowball offer can be an insult. Making an unreasonable (in the eyes of the seller) offer might cause the seller to stick to the list price.
$1200 would be roughly 14% off which is a pretty good discount.
 
Im thinking wave 900 bucks under his nose cash money, and see if he will go for it,if not let him shoot you a price,money talks!
 
here's my log splitter on my tractor.
mvphoto6308.jpg
 
To the businessman who has his money invested in that wood splitter, $200 on $1400 is a BIG discount. Especially since his cost on the thing was more than likely 15%-20% higher than Lowes or HD paid for the same unit.

Having said that, if he's had the thing around more than a year, he's already lost money on it, so the question is how much more of a loss is he willing to take on it to move it and get his money invested back into a faster moving item that will make something for him.

I paid $1,000 for a 25 ton splitter from Central Tractor nearly 30 years ago, so $1,400 is a pretty good price to start with.
 
I bought a new Huskee 22 ton with a 6hp motor B&S from TSC last fall for $999.99.

It might be a hard sale for the hardware store, and all you can do is ask!
 
Good luck.

If it was a machinery dealer you might have a chance, but hardware stores are generally of the retail mentality: You pay the price on the price tag, period.

Old-time hardware stores have an old-time mentality. If they didn't have to borrow money to stock that splitter, or the line of credit has been paid off, it's NOT losing money sitting there. It's no skin off their nose if it sits there a year or a decade. They don't have to worry about restocking that space in the store. They will make their money or the splitter will sit there.

A lot of you guys can probably relate. You've had problems selling things. If someone can't pay what you want for it, it can rot into the ground for all you care. Doesn't matter that the item isn't doing anybody any good, and is going to waste. You're not going to give it away, and that's that.
 
Make your offer. My wife made an offer at K-Mart and they took it. Was a low offer too. Kind of embarrassed me, and I thought I was the king of dealing. You just never know.
 
never hurts to ask.
I ask everywhere, retail stores, chain stores, even corner stores.
Talk to a manager, be nice.
If it's a suit and tie type person, talk percentage not dollars.
as in 10% off.
Even the giant stores will deal.
I always ask if an item is on sale (I know it isn't)
When they say no, I counter with 'everything here is on sale at some time'
How about giving it to me at the sale price? or a % off?
It works more often than it doesn't.
On smaller items that I will need a lot of in the future,
asking for a % off and telling the manager you will buy ALL he has works all the time.
Clearance items especially...big enough % off and I will buy them all. Managers will deal easily in that situation.

hint: at big stores, ask a low level employee what their buying discount is. It gives you a good starting point.
 
I suspect you can have a similar model shipped to your door for around $1000. I pd $900 at Menards for a similar splitter with a Chinese clone of a Honda motor. $600 for the Honda name is too much of a premium for me.
 

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