Smoker Manufacturers: prices negotiable?

It never hurts to ask... all they can do is say "no".

With that said, I wouldn't expect much off of a standard pit design but if you plan on adding several upgrades there will be more room to play. I won't go into specifics but I got some extras tossed in at little or no charge on my offset.

Agree, most of the pride-in-ownership shops will throw in customer appreciation gestures. Even though cash price stays the same, some throw ins can sweeten the deal

Negotiating is kind of a hobby for me. I look forward, for example, to negotiating a used car purchase from a dealer. Warped, I know. :-D

In a situation like this, I would always try for a lower price.

A straightforward approach: "Can you give me a discount?" is rarely going to work. First, the seller has said "No" so many times it's almost a reflex. Second, this approach probably indicates that you have already decided to buy, so why would he offer a discount?

Instead, I would communicate that you have options and that you have a problem buying his product where maybe he could help.

"I've been looking a cookers in various price ranges and really like your products, but your prices are more than my wife will let me spend. Do you ever have demo units for sale or maybe a unit that you built and the buyer fell through?"

With luck the seller will suddenly find himself on your side of the table, trying to come up with a deal that will satisfy your wife.

Note that you don't actually have to be married. This is called "absent authority" negotiating and the authority doesn't really have to even exist. The important thing is that you are not the authority and you are looking to the seller for help in overcoming the absent authority's objections. At any time you can seal the deal by saying: "Thanks for the help. I'm sure I can sell that to my wife. Let's place the order."

If the seller balks, use the absent authority again: "Gee, I'm sorry that you couldn't be more helpful. I'll have to talk to my wife and look at other options. You have my phone number, though. Please call me if anything changes on your end." Suddenly the seller sees that he may lose the deal; sometimes that will be enough to trigger an offer. And you can always call back and accept the full price deal if necessary.

It might work. It might not. But it is a powerful technique and is useful in many situations. I coached a 75YO lady friend on this technique prior to her buying a car. She did a great job using (absent) husband Frank as the authority. This was at a time when Frank was so far into Alzheimers that he didn't even know her name. The triumph was with the F&I guy where she crossed out the $200 doc fee and told the guy "Frank told me I can't pay that." What could he do? He waived the fee. :becky:

HTH

i dont think you'll get far "calling" around. As with anything else, perhaps you should go visit one of these places in person. Paying cash may help some, but overall- unless you run into a retailer that is hurting for business they don't typically have to mark down these smoking beasts because the demand is really that high.

Besides - if you're spending a few thousand dollars whats with shaving a hundred bucks?

Heres a philosophical question... does your employer ask you to work for less ..or make concessions on a daily basis? If they did.. would they do it over the phone?

offshore_SoLA said:

... if you're spending a few thousand dollars whats with shaving a hundred bucks?

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Really bad logic, IMO.

A hundred bucks is a hundred bucks, regardless of the context. Paying a hundred bucks too much for a brisket is the same as paying a hundred bucks too much for a cooker.

But I love to have guys like you across the table from me in negotiations. I'll pick up those hundred dollar bills all day long.

Re paying cash, yes. The seller has to pay a 2-3% fee when you use a credit card. At the very least he should give you that much of a discount for cash. And real cash dollars vs a check might be attractive to a small seller who might not be telling our uncle about everything the does. If you're willing to pay real cash you should make that clear up front. It might matter. It might not.

Re philosophical question, IMO completely irrelevant.

Re calling on the phone vs in person, making the effort to talk face to face indicates to the seller that you are more likely to buy. Hence making him less likely to discount. If you want to talk face to face that might be good, but I would wait a few days and then open the negotiations by telephone.

With wait times of 4 months to a year with some manufacturers I highly doubt you can get discounts. Guess depends who u shop from but most are doing well.

I like a little break on price usually but I don't negotiate with small businesses like these.

Jmho

Supply and demand .....

Is it winter and the owner is trying to make payroll for his crew or, is he backed up with ~6 months of orders in early Spring?

It's much easier to to get an extra shelf or thermometer or similar thrown in as a perk.

Sid Post said:

... Is it winter and the owner is trying to make payroll for his crew ...

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Excellent point. The OP is probably looking for a discount at the worst possible time. I would guess that early December through mid-February would be a better time to look for discounts.

airedale said:

Really bad logic, IMO.

A hundred bucks is a hundred bucks, regardless of the context. Paying a hundred bucks too much for a brisket is the same as paying a hundred bucks too much for a cooker.

But I love to have guys like you across the table from me in negotiations. I'll pick up those hundred dollar bills all day long.

Re paying cash, yes. The seller has to pay a 2-3% fee when you use a credit card. At the very least he should give you that much of a discount for cash. And real cash dollars vs a check might be attractive to a small seller who might not be telling our uncle about everything the does. If you're willing to pay real cash you should make that clear up front. It might matter. It might not.

Re philosophical question, IMO completely irrelevant.

Re calling on the phone vs in person, making the effort to talk face to face indicates to the seller that you are more likely to buy. Hence making him less likely to discount. If you want to talk face to face that might be good, but I would wait a few days and then open the negotiations by telephone.

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paying 100 on a brisket is one thing - paying 100 on something that is 2-3k is another.

Personally, I feel like my time is valuable and i don't find it beneficial or a good value to spend countless hours or even days to save a hundred bucks.

there are some people that will ague until they are blue in the face that driving 40 miles to save 10c a gallon on gas is worth while...

I'm with offshore SoLA,

At this stage of life my time is more precious than my money. If it's within reason, I'll cut to the chase even if I get dinged for a C Note. I call it mental health spending and it's why I take the toll road during rush hour. I could save the money but I feel years would be taken off my life

Sundance, feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email. Have experience cooking on these units and have Humphrey's and Backwoods in stock. 314-200-5350 or stlbbqstore@gmail.com

- Louis

As far as dealing with the manufacturer, they probably won't try to discount unless they don't have any chain of distribution. Most manufacturers set a retail price to protect their distributors by suggesting a price. However the distributor is free to bargain with you to lock in the final sale agreement.

Contact the distributors near you to find your best price possible. Keep in mind that some manufactures make almost identical units. I was ready to purchase a Backwoods when I found another manufacturer who mad an almost identical unit for $1500.00 less. I went to a competition and saw the unit in use and sealed the deal. I know some will comment that not all smokers are identical and that quality will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.... This is true, the smoker I purchased had a higher quality construction (welds/materials) than the one I was looking at.

Find local competitions near you to view the smokers in action and get a feel for what they are and how they function.

Take your time and do your research, compare the units, but most of all separate your needs from your wants. Once you have discovered your needs, anything else above your needs are a bonus.

Final consideration on purchasing a smoker is the fact that you only want to buy one last smoker ever, it should meet your needs, have some of your wants, but most of all, it should be made with superior construction and quality.

Good luck in your search..

IamMadMan said:

As far as dealing with the manufacturer, they probably won't try to discount unless they don't have any chain of distribution. ... Contact the distributors near you to find your best price possible. ...

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Key word is "probably." Phone calls are cheap and you may find a deal on a demo or one that has been orphaned for one reason or another. What IamMadMan is referring to is called "channel conflict" and it happens all the time in this internet age. To my total surprise, Hanes sold me some tee shirts directly from their web site, on sale and with a free shipping offer. If I was a retailer selling Hanes I would be upset! But don't pre-judge. Just make the call(s). To dealers, too, of course, but a factory seller has more room to move if he chooses to.

Only builder I have talked to that would negotiate base price was a very new builder. He was really wanting to get his cooker in my hands. Got an insulated cabinet the size of a deb or LSG mini for half the price including shipping. A couple months later he went under and I think some customers lost their deposits. Be careful, I got lucky.

Edit: I forgot I had a custom build once. The guy have me a decent discount for the design and helping him figure out how to improve it before he offered it to his customers.

"A hundred bucks is a hundred bucks, regardless of the context. Paying a hundred bucks too much for a brisket is the same as paying a hundred bucks too much for a cooker."

Man- brisket is HIGH in your neck of the woods. :-D

If you don't ask, you don't get- and there are a LOT of ways to ask. But that is just a ridiculous simile.

My Mail Lady is from Texas. She told me the other day what brisket sells for down there. I was like wow.......... Pretty easy to spend 100-150 on a choice brisket up here.... Sucks

You might find that resellers have more wiggle room on price than the manufacture due to contractual obligations.