Hot Tub Forum
Brand Specific Forums => Marquis Hot Tubs => Topic started by: jdd on December 19, 2018, 02:57:00 am
-
Hi, new member here. Looking at getting first hot tub. Pretty set on a Marquis Spirit with the upgraded pump and Microsilk options. The dealer includes decent steps, a cover lifter, electrical hook-up and a few months worth of chemicals. The quoted price for all that was $9,540. That was quite a bit more than I was expecting to pay for a spa of this size. Is that price a good deal? Room for negotiating? Does paying by check entice dealers to lower price any versus financing through them?
-
Welcome to the forum. I haven't priced hottubs since 2012, but that seems a little high for a 3 person tub. Hopefully others may have more recent experience.
-
If your dealer is including the 220V electrical service in that price, then I think it is very fair. I haven't sold Marquis since last year, but from what I can remember, I was close to $10k for a Spirit with Microsilk. You can always try to negotiate and yes, cash or check will always yield you the best price, but don't be surprised if they are firm on price.
-
If anything that price is on the low side when you include Microsilk. That’s about a 2k option on its own. I sold one without Microsilk or electrical a couple days ago for almost that same price. Is the dealer doing all the electrical work or just the hookup?
-
The microsilk option is expensive and there is a lot of debate about it's worthiness. If you're on a tight budget consider dropping that option to open up your choices a little more.
-
That’s actually a really, really good price considering it has MicroSilk. I have a Spirit in my back yard. I’m a fan of the MicroSilk, but if budget is a concern, you could eliminate that option.
-
My personal experience is that the water in my tub is plenty soft and silky enough on its own. Maybe I'm gonna fluking that in my water balance but my skin feels plenty smooth enough as it is.
-
To the OP, is there a reason you need Microsilk? In my opinion unless there is a dermatological reason to get the Microsilk, it is not worth getting. I’ve sat in Microsilk many times and while I did feel my skin to be softer when upon getting out, I didn’t need it. And as swilly1000 said, as long as you are balancing your water properly, you shouldn’t be getting out with dry skin.
-
Hi everyone, sorry, been extremely busy and just forgot to check back in. Thank you for all the replies. To answer some of the questions:
They won't be running any wiring, I have a preinstalled GFCI circuit from the home being built, but they do include hooking the spa up to the circuit.
On the Microsilk, I've kind of debated about that one. There are some dermatological reasons but I also don't expect this to be a cure. Another reason is my wife isn't a real big fan of the jets so I thought it might be something different to give her an experience she might enjoy more than jets.
Having said all that I had some extra expenses I wasn't expecting (dryer went out and washer on last legs so bought a new set), so spa shopping on hold until tax refund time.
-
The micro silk feature sounds interesting and I've seen just a few reviews, hadn't really researched it. If I recall, some like it, some love it , some think it isn't worth the money and some think it does nothing.
I think you've captured the essence of why one might spring for it to try it out if your spouse isn't excited about the jets / pump action and just more about the soak. As you say, this gives her a feature that sets it apart from just the normal or basic tub. Ideally the wet test on MS would be a confirmation before pony up money buying a tub just to see if you like it or its worth it but mainly, I hope it's something you are happy with in the long run if you end up going that route. Nobody else can tell you or your wife if you will like it, real ? imagined ? or placebo impressions ? etc... and if you consider the extra cost involved to get it, you probably are not hurting or skimping on life basics so get what you want or 'deserve' ! If my wife tested it and thought she wanted it, a Dr opinion, facts or research on it being 'hype' would not sway me in the least. If Doc's showed proof it was bad or unhealthy, that would be an obvious exception. ;D
Enjoy what you get and best of luck and fun tubbing in your near future. Don't leave us hanging though, report back with some impressions or a short write up.
-
For anyone considering microsilk, a lot of salesman fail to explain a couple of minor details that are important. You have to turn it on 10 to 15 minutes before using and you cannot run any of the jets while it's on. I personally don't think it does a whole lot. I definitely noticed a minor softness but not enough for me think it's worth buying.
Just my 2 cents.
-
Hardest part of selling Microsilk is it’s not something someone can come in and try once and decide on it. It needs to be used regularly to get any of the benefits. My wife swears by it. Personally I could care less. Give me jet power. In a Marquis it takes about 6-7 minutes before you get the full effect of the micro bubbles. I’ve sold a bunch and have never gotten negative feedback on it.
-
I appreciate the details on how it works. I didn't know if it was on all the time and you are stuck with it like it or not but see that it has an on/off control.
I get the point about sales of that upsell feature when one demo might not be very telling. That's a downside in the case of marketing.
It would be a tough call in my case because I consider an added feature that might another 15% or more on the tub price as something I'd want to justify with solid benefit. If a wet test demo or two doesn't close me or my wife convincingly, I doubt we'd go that route.
On the other hand, I do see some reasoning for advertising and slick marketing or 'hype'. How else to reach the clients when indeed the feature is loved or appreciated by many - yet prospective clients can't necessarily get the feel of it one or two sits.
On the plus side, the comment about selling that feature and not having anyone complain or regret getting it is telling in a good way. :)
-
Yes, MicroSilk completely independent of jets and can't be used at the same time as the jets, it's an either or thing. It added $1,200 to the quote so it wasn't quite the $2k some have paid. Purchase will probably be on hold at least until spring now but I definitely will report back if/when I finally get it.
Getting the wife to wet test is another issue, probably won't ever happen. She doesn't even test drive cars when we are getting her a new one.
-
Using Spa Marvel is what has made my water softer, I think.
At $54.99 every three months it's cheaper than Microsilk....until I get to year six I guess.
-
jdd, $1,200 is a really good price on MicroSilk. I never sold it for less than $1,500 and that was 2+ years ago. Can only assume pricing has gone up a bit. Unless you got money to burn, you really need to convince your wife to wet test or just pass on MicroSilk. I couldn't justify spending that kind of money on something when I don't know if I really need it.
Swilly1000, curious to hear feedback on Spa Marvel. I'm not one to offer my customers an expensive product especially when it is not a necessity so I'm curious to hear more about it.
-
When I was shopping for my tub in the summer a Marquis dealer quoted me $2,000 for Microsilk, and I ran for the hills. Thought that was ridiculous.
As to Spa Marvel, I was initially attracted to it because, like a lot of newbies, I was feeling a little lost on using chemicals, and the impression I got was that you added it and didn't have to do anything else except sanitize. It sounded low maintenance and that appealed to me. So I bought a year's supply in addition to the three month supply the dealer included in the start-up kit.
Now that I know more about chemicals and have three months' experience, I don't feel as unsure. I had some cloudy water a while back and resolved that. I've also had my water tested twice at the dealer and it's been pretty good so far.
If I was being pitched on Spa Marvel today I may not be so inclined to buy it because I know more now and have more experience.
But I do really like the soft water and it may very well be that the Spa Marvel has been a contributing factor in my water balancing so far. Also, I just finished the the first three month cycle and it's time to add some more Spa Marvel. In the last couple of weeks, I've sensed a reduction in the water softness, presumably because I'm at the end of the Spa Marvel cycle.
All in all, I really like it. And I still have a year's supply of it. Being still a relative newbie, I too would be interested in hearing what others have to say about it.
-
Hey all, been a while since I posted this topic. Took a lot longer than I thought to be able to finally pull the trigger on the spa but was finally able to. If there are any dealers out there, curious about a couple of things.
I ordered this June 15th. They warned us it could be up to 20 weeks for delivery. It's now been 21 weeks. I emailed earlier this week and they said "we think it might be on a delivery this week and if it is, we'll let you know." Haven't heard back from them.
Wondering, is it really taking this long to get new spas? I know covid and fires have slowed things down, but 5 months just seems ridiculous. Also, is there really no information they can get from Marquis about when something will be ready and/or ship? They have said that they don't know anything until it shows up on the truck. I find this really hard to believe.
This is a real reputable dealer, I'm not worried about them, but it's just frustrating waiting so long without any real info.
-
I'm no longer a Marquis dealer so I can't comment on the communication between manufacturer and dealer. To answer your question though, yes, it could easily take a lot longer than 5 months right now to get a hot tub. I've heard that Marquis is February 2022 on new orders placed today. Back in the summer, I'm sure that lead time was considerably less, but I would still have expected 6 months plus.
Big thing to keep in mind is that many manufacturers either had to temporarily shutdown due to Covid or at the very least are not operating at 100% because of social distancing protocols. Combine that with supply chain issues and the result is extended lead times. I inform my customers of an ETA (expected) time of arrival for their hot tubs and stress that there very likely will be delays and if they are not accepting of that then now is not the time to buy a hot tub.
-
Hey all, been a while since I posted this topic. Took a lot longer than I thought to be able to finally pull the trigger on the spa but was finally able to. If there are any dealers out there, curious about a couple of things.
I ordered this June 15th. They warned us it could be up to 20 weeks for delivery. It's now been 21 weeks. I emailed earlier this week and they said "we think it might be on a delivery this week and if it is, we'll let you know." Haven't heard back from them.
Wondering, is it really taking this long to get new spas? I know covid and fires have slowed things down, but 5 months just seems ridiculous. Also, is there really no information they can get from Marquis about when something will be ready and/or ship? They have said that they don't know anything until it shows up on the truck. I find this really hard to believe.
This is a real reputable dealer, I'm not worried about them, but it's just frustrating waiting so long without any real info.
Yes it’s definetely taking that long if not longer to get tubs. My tubs ordered on 6/2/20 still haven’t arrived and I’m not really expecting them until December at this point. They can call Marquis but dating is tough because they are having shortages on parts. Marquis is well over a year out on new orders now. It’s just as frustrating for us as dealers. Demand through the roof and not much inventory available to sell.
-
Thanks castletonia & Hottubguy. Kind of what I figured. Tom Petty had it right, The Waiting is the Hardest Part. That is crazy they are a year out now.
-
So the same day of my previous post I got a call from the dealer, spa came in! Got it installed Monday. June 15th to November 9th. Almost 5 months. I guess now that is actually a really good turnaround time. Now enjoying soaking in my new Spirit!