Original > Hot Tub Forum
Help with selecting a hot tub please
bud16415:
I started in much the same point naively thinking 3-5k should get me a nice tub. What the heck it’s a big plastic box with a pump and a heater right? Well once we started I quickly saw 5-8k was more where what I thought she wanted would be located. Then we started testing them and shopping around It seemed a 4 person tub should be more than enough for 2 people most of the time but boy a 6 person just seemed so much better. We are both tall and the deeper tubs even though they are only 3-4” deeper seemed so much better. One thing lead to another and what she loved was about $12k. The slick talking sales people pointed out the top of the line tub I would never want to upgrade in a few years and it might last 20 years compared to 10 or less of the cheaper tubs. Don’t know if that is true or not, but I figured it out and the expensive tub came out to $12 per week if it lasted that long or a couple bucks per day.
Pretty much I convinced myself with the help of the sales people and wanting to get her what would make her happy that the savings in power and the long life of the tub plus it is a step up from what our good friends have for a tub and how can you put a price on tub envy. We sprung for the top of the line.
I know these things are luxury items and its like buying anything luxury you are going to pay more for it.
After having it now for 5 years I would say at least a 100 times we have been in the tub chatting and one of us will say how glad we are that we upgraded. It is one of those pampering yourself purchases that some people seem to have no trouble making and I’m the type of person that most of my life I denied myself.
My advice is test a bunch out and one will speak to you and if at all possible figure out how to make that one happen. People spend lots of money going on a 2 week cruise and then it is over. I kind of look at it as every night I can go take a 1 hour cruise and never leave the house.
PS i had Alexa play me some Alice in Chains the other day.
Sludge Factory:
Thank you all for responding. Some great info there. I do appreciate it. I'd like to pay cash but wouldn't be opposed to financing some if it made sense and was worth it. So I guess we'll have to see. If you finance these things do you pay a higher price? I've never looked into it. I hate financing.
Oh and Bud, keep on playing that Alice in Chains and throw in some Mad Season too!! :)
ratchett:
--- Quote from: Sludge Factory on March 04, 2020, 07:57:39 pm ---Thank you all for responding. Some great info there. I do appreciate it. I'd like to pay cash but wouldn't be opposed to financing some if it made sense and was worth it. So I guess we'll have to see. If you finance these things do you pay a higher price? I've never looked into it. I hate financing.
--- End quote ---
From what I've seen in my experiences shopping for a spa and from the dealers on these groups, it sounds like having cash in hand will always give you the best negotiating power. It sounds like dealers are less willing to negotiate prices if you're financing the spa.
Cash talks in this industry, have your checkbook with you and they will be much more likely to negotiate if they know you'll be buying the spa that day.
Sludge Factory:
--- Quote from: ratchett on March 05, 2020, 07:48:29 am ---
--- Quote from: Sludge Factory on March 04, 2020, 07:57:39 pm ---Thank you all for responding. Some great info there. I do appreciate it. I'd like to pay cash but wouldn't be opposed to financing some if it made sense and was worth it. So I guess we'll have to see. If you finance these things do you pay a higher price? I've never looked into it. I hate financing.
--- End quote ---
From what I've seen in my experiences shopping for a spa and from the dealers on these groups, it sounds like having cash in hand will always give you the best negotiating power. It sounds like dealers are less willing to negotiate prices if you're financing the spa.
Cash talks in this industry, have your checkbook with you and they will be much more likely to negotiate if they know you'll be buying the spa that day.
--- End quote ---
I could pay cash but we have other things we want to do around the house also. So I'm kinda torn, I'm probably not going to want to pay more because I financed it. So I'll probably be stuck in the 5-8k range.
The Wizard of Spas:
To generalize - Financing fees are paid at the very least by the dealer, and in certain cases - also by the purchaser. While you might be offered a rate of "X Months Same-As-Cash" and there is no financing fees attached to the price insofar as you pay it off w/in the allotted time frame, the dealer is still charged a percentage of the total cost of the transaction. If the rate is 36 months at (say) 6%, then while you pay interest, the dealer still is getting tagged with a financing charge from the lender. Dealers usually have to anticipate 5-8% fees of the total financed amount. That right there is, say, a set of steps, or cover lift, or both if the spa is priced high enough.
That is why you see things "thrown in." It's because dealers already have $X allotted for financing fees and if you pay cash they "throw in" the same basic cost they were incurring but position it as a benefit to the consumer.
Savvy dealers blend a flat rate to all spas they sell - say 2-ish % of the retail price for those that finance, use a credit card, or write a check, which helps cover all processing fees when you look at your sales on a macro level - and give you a "Pay Any Way" price, and have an additional built-in cushion so that if you do pay cash and really negotiate hard for a deal, they are still able to give you a "discount" and close the deal w/o really giving any discount.
This is why I love no longer working on commission.
I now tell those who have to negotiate for the "best price" to walk away at whatever the bottom price offered is. If they give you a better price in a few days, that will be more likely the bottom-dollar. If they don't then there is your answer.
I hope this helps.
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