Is there really a credit crunch going on?

[Smi1er]

Viewed some furniture today, a Sofa in particular. Knew what we wanted so called the salesman over....

Of course the prices were on display, along with the special offer prices, but on a Saturday afternoon there was only one other couple in the store, so quite evident that the credit crunch is having an effect.

I tell the salesman we want a 3 seater and a 2 seater and also show him the colour, I ask him for his best price. He studies the prices on display and then announces it's £2,848. Now I'm pretty sharp on maths but can't figure out how he got this figure so I ask him to explain how he got to it.... he points to the special offer prices saying it's X for the 3 seater, and Y for the 2 seater, and £49 for delivery.

£49 for delivery:lol: I say. I politely inform him I've never paid a delivery charge in my life and have no intention of starting now. He told me all shops charge it:oh-hum:

Quite politely I tell him again that I'm here to buy a Sofa, know what I what, also know we're in the middle of a credit crunch and have no intention of paying his 'special offer' prices. Again I ask him for his best price to which he repeats his earlier figure.

I bid him farewell.

I thought we were in a recession, the store was almost empty, and this guy just turned away my business because he wouldn't move from the printed prices.

[pyrogena]

For all you know the ticket price could be the rock bottom price already.

As for the delivery charge, standard practice in my experience. :shrug:

[splobber]

Delivery is standard on this sort of thing. I find it hard to believe that you have never paid a delivery charge in your life too - even "free delivery" is hidden in the cost somewhere down the line.

That price may well be the lowest they are prepared to go so they will turn down your business, as I guess you would if you were at the lowest you were prepared to go to if you were self employed and quoting for a job.

We may well be in a economic downturn, but retailers have to make a living too. If they wanted to negotiate then they would have. Don't presume that they have to.

People don't usually buy furniture at this time of year, either because they cannot guarantee pre-Xmas delivery at this stage or people have better things to spend their money on (i.e. Christmas presents) so I would expect the store to be quiet.

So apart from expecting an additional discount as well as free delivery thrown in too, why not go the whole hog and ask if he can include his first born as part of the deal?

[chrisjm]

A sofa that has a higher mark up to give them room to discount the delivery or has it 'free' but in reality included on the price tag doesnt make it better value.

[cjanderson]

try a local independent if you want discounts on furniture, a big store doesn't generally haggle on the price on sofas, as they are made to order anyway. somewhere where the sofas are already made and have been rejected may discount them.

[Smi1er]

Interesting to see that people think that a sofa costing 60% the cost of the average UK secondhand car doesn't have enough profit in it to give the customer a decent discount.

I don't expect to pay a delivery charge, I expect that as part of the Sofa cost.

I know the retailers still have a living to make, but I don't expect them to be on the same profit margins as they were last year.:shrug:

[cjanderson]

don't think they ever did make the profits on the sofa's, always on the finance side (all those buy now pay later deals).

[MrHat001]

Interesting to see that people think that a sofa costing 60% the cost of the average UK secondhand car doesn't have enough profit in it to give the customer a decent discount.
My father is an upholsterer and £2,848 would just about get you one quality handmade sofa, let alone a suite.
If you don't want to pay so much then go to the likes of DFS.

It's not like it's magically become cheaper to make a sofa. The cost of frames, springs & fabrics hasn't plummeted due to the credit crunch so I'm not sure why you'd expect it to be drastically cheaper.

[splobber]

Interesting to see that people think that a sofa costing 60% the cost of the average UK secondhand car doesn't have enough profit in it to give the customer a decent discount.

I don't expect to pay a delivery charge, I expect that as part of the Sofa cost.

I know the retailers still have a living to make, but I don't expect them to be on the same profit margins as they were last year.:shrug:

So you are happy to be charged an extra £50 on the price as long as you get free delivery? :nuts:

The cost is relative to how it is built, nothing to do with how much it is to you. Just because the ticket price is higher doesn't mean that they are making more profit as a result.

Try walking into a Ferrari dealer and asking him to reduce their price seeing as you can pick up a Ford Ka much cheaper.

[nutter45]

The answer to the question in the title is yes :p

On retailers (sofa or whatever), some will cut deals and some will absolutely not. If not, and you're not tied to that particular product, go elsewhere or pay up :)

[KRW]

You could always just bring it home yourself?

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YELnxlmYZSk&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YELnxlmYZSk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[Stig MK2]

pivot! PIVOT!!! Love it!

back on topic, we had the same thing a while ago but I love haggling so went back the next week and spoke to someone else who was willing to play the game. It all comes down to who you talk to in the end IMO.