Selling cars... dealing with haggling?

[Partyvan]

Hi all

I sell a lot of cars but have always struggled with people haggling. I price them as low as I'd possibly go for them, and put "no offers" all over the adverts... but still get a lot of people asking "best price", "cash price" type questions.

They really wind me up.

How do you deal with them?

Thanks

[Mr Pointy]

Price the cars higher & give them a discount. They'll think they got a good deal.

[Butter Face]

I just say ‘no,sorry, I can’t do the deal at your price’

If it’s the truth then you haven’t lost anything, just the time. The buyer can then meet your price or leave.

FWIW I sell cars for a living and sometimes we just haven’t got any movement on a price so it is take it or leave it, and I quite enjoy being sable to say ‘that’s it’ to someone.

[Simpo Two]

A well-known Jaguar independent will say - when you ring them up to ask about the car - that they have two rules. First they insist on 7 days to prep the car before you can collect it, and second, the price on the screen is the price, no haggling. It's an interesting tactic; I didn't test it because I really wanted the car but I did use it as a lever to get better walnut trim fitted from another car they had in stock. So instead of getting money off, I got more stuff that was valuable to me.

[skwdenyer]

Partyvan said:

Hi all

I sell a lot of cars but have always struggled with people haggling. I price them as low as I'd possibly go for them, and put "no offers" all over the adverts... but still get a lot of people asking "best price", "cash price" type questions.

They really wind me up.

How do you deal with them?

Thanks

You need to promote your strategy as a feature, or change it so you do what people expect you to do.

It is hard to work out which is the best approach.

If you go against the herd, their "price instincts" will still make them believe your price is comparable to others' so there's some wiggle room in it.

If you've a bit of time right now, I'd recommend you read "Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind" by Al Ries and Jack Trout. It is old but still very relevant. It is also easy to read and not awfully long.

What matters is what is in the minds of your prospective customers, not what's in your mind. If they're expecting haggle then they'll see haggle. If you're doing something different then you've got to find a way of communicating that to them in a way that will get through to them.

The example of the Jaguar dealer is interesting: they're making it plain there's isn't a "box shifting" operation. Each car is individually prepared just for you, at the price on the sticker. That's a very positive way of making the point.

So on the face of it your "£xxx, no offers" approach is perhaps falling between two stools and missing opportunities.

An anecdote, a few years old now, from a San Francisco based car dealer. He couldn't work out why so many Chinese immigrant families would come in, take a test drive, negotiate for ages on the price, and then walk away without buying. He (rightly) believed he was missing something culturally, so spent his spare time at the fish market watching people negotiate.

What he noticed was that the seller would name a price, the buyer would make a counter offer, then there'd be a bit of back-and-forth. After a short (but respectful) time, the seller would pretend to be very angry, bang his fist on the counter, and cry "that's my best price, take it or leave it." Almost without fail, the buyer would say "ok" and buy.

He took this back into his dealership and found, much to his surprise, that it worked. The "back and forth" was a ritual, and the banging of the fist (or other sign of anger and frustration) was taken as a signal that the "best price" had been achieved. Happy that they'd got the best price they could, the buyers would gladly hand over the money with their sense of honour intact.

In a roundabout way, what I'm saying is that what your customers expect does matter, even if you're trying to do something different. If you absolutely want to be different, you need to make it very clear in your whole offering that that's what you're doing. Otherwise people just see your price in comparison to others' and believe there's still a deal to be done. Beyond that of course there will still be chancers, but you don't have to be loved by everyone

[SpeedBash]

Mr Pointy said:

Price the cars higher & give them a discount. They'll think they got a good deal.

This.

I used to sell furniture and had a similar experience with a customer.

He wanted discount on one of our best selling corner sofas priced at £995.

This product doesn't generate much profit per sale but based on the volume we sold, it was a nice earner for the company.

Politely declined and he went on his way to a competitor.

He comes back later in the day and I get chatting to him - he ended up buying a similar sofa from the competitor - fair enough - you win some, you lose some.

When I ask him about price, he said it was priced up at £1600 but he got it for £1000 - I said he must have had to negotiate hard to get the £600 discount - he said no, the salesman just offered it to him.

When I suggested, therefore, that the real price was actually £1000 and not the £1600 ticket price he said, yeah I know, but it felt like I was getting a deal!

No wonder we get ripped off in this country.

[So]

Partyvan said:

Hi all

I sell a lot of cars but have always struggled with people haggling. I price them as low as I'd possibly go for them, and put "no offers" all over the adverts... but still get a lot of people asking "best price", "cash price" type questions.

They really wind me up.

How do you deal with them?

Thanks

Leave me your details, and if no one buys it for the price I am looking for you can have it for that price.

[Butter Face]

SpeedBash said:

yeah I know, but it felt like I was getting a deal

You should try dealing with people with things to part exchange, amazes me how blind people are to what things actually cost them when they get a ‘good’ part exchange price.

[Partyvan]

Some excellent advice, thankyou all

I'll either pitch with "prepared for you, the price is the price" type advert, or put some wiggle room in.

[bristolbaron]

Many years ago I managed an independent jewellers, our prices were very fair with little room for negotiation. We regularly had a family swarm the shop from a community of people who lived in mobile homes on common land. They were very difficult to work with until you got used to the tactic -
‘how much is this?’
£1000
‘I’ll give you £500’

As most items didn’t have a displayed price, I’d take the tickets off, tell them the price was double what it was and then get knocked down by 50%. As above, some people care more about the deal than the price.

[Pothole]

Partyvan said:

Hi all

I sell a lot of cars but have always struggled with people haggling.

I price them as low as I'd possibly go for them why?, and put "no offers" all over the adverts... but still get a lot of people asking "best price", "cash price" type questions.

They really wind me up.why?

How do you deal with them?

Thanks

[Hitch]

This 'best price' thing was new to me when I moved to Dubai so I quickly decided to ignore anyone discussing price before they've seen the car. What's the point? Anyone serious will come take a look.

I'd also always decide the price I wanted for the car and add 5-10% on for them to negotiate down. That way, you can also end up 'up' on your desired price so it makes it less painful.

Advertising at fixed price is pointless as people don't believe you.

[sideways sid]

Hitch said:

...I quickly decided to ignore anyone discussing price before they've seen the car. What's the point? Anyone serious will come take a look...

This.

If a buyer wants to buy a car, they can come and see it, drive it, check service history etc then make an offer once they have a fully informed opinion of what they're offering to buy.

I would be sceptical that telling a caller "well, its for sale to everybody else for [a big number] but as you've called and asked for my best price, you can have the car for [a smaller number]" would be seen as a starting point for them to try to negotiate further upon.

Perhaps I've been lucky, but having bought and sold cars by auction on eBay, I find the transparency and immediacy very attractive.

[skwdenyer]

sideways sid said:

This.

If a buyer wants to buy a car, they can come and see it, drive it, check service history etc then make an offer once they have a fully informed opinion of what they're offering to buy.

I would be sceptical that telling a caller "well, its for sale to everybody else for [a big number] but as you've called and asked for my best price, you can have the car for [a smaller number]" would be seen as a starting point for them to try to negotiate further upon.

Perhaps I've been lucky, but having bought and sold cars by auction on eBay, I find the transparency and immediacy very attractive.

Agreed. But ebay as the advantage of being non-binding.

[CRA1G]

When you get an email for something priced at £8995 with "what is your best price" just reply with "my best price is £9500" which it is....

[Drive it fix it repeat]

I hate selling cars, it's the paperwork I cant stand. People are easy, just make them think they are getting a deal. Start off high and end up where you originally wanted to. Simple thing is you can always say no. Low offers dont insult me as I've chanced my arm before aswell in the hope someone is desperate to sell.

If you say price is the price no offers you have to stick to that. If I were the buyer and you told me that and then agreed to haggle down I'd be like a shark that's smelt blood and be trying to rinse you, quite frankly. Basically be confident.

[POORCARDEALER]

That's the price....you will lose the odd deal, let them walk

[Turkish91]

sideways sid said:

Hitch said:

...I quickly decided to ignore anyone discussing price before they've seen the car. What's the point? Anyone serious will come take a look...

This.

If a buyer wants to buy a car, they can come and see it, drive it, check service history etc then make an offer once they have a fully informed opinion of what they're offering to buy.

I would be sceptical that telling a caller "well, its for sale to everybody else for [a big number] but as you've called and asked for my best price, you can have the car for [a smaller number]" would be seen as a starting point for them to try to negotiate further upon.

Perhaps I've been lucky, but having bought and sold cars by auction on eBay, I find the transparency and immediacy very attractive.

Absolutely this.

I sometimes don’t even reply when people make offers in their 1st/2nd/3rd message. Facebook is the absolute worst for selling cars, full of total morons.

[CRA1G]

Turkish91 said:

Absolutely this.

I sometimes don’t even reply when people make offers in their 1st/2nd/3rd message. Facebook is the absolute worst for selling cars, full of total morons.

+ 1... because if you do "AGREE" the the "best price" via email or phone they start all over again to reduce the "best price" when they come to view...

[Stay in Bed Instead]

Can cars be personally viewed at the current time?