Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: Sollylogger on September 10, 2016, 10:48:50 pm
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I just bought a hot tub for the first time. I found the experience to be quite challenging as there is so little real information that the buyer can access. The playing field is so tilted toward the dealer. I want to suggest that this forum start a log of prices paid so future buyers can have better information for negotiations. I also would like to thank this forum and one particular dealer/user who agreed to speak to me about hot tubs even though he was on the other side of the country. If anyone would like more information, pm me and I would be happy to pass along any knowledge I gathered.
In order to encourage people to post the price that they paid, I ask that no one post comments about the prices good or bad.
Sept 2016 - In Pennsylvania
Purchased a Hot Spring Envoy for $11,000 (during rebate week) Includes steps, cover, lifter, year's worth of chemicals, delivery
I received quotes for two other brands - same inclusions except for less chemicals
Jacuzzi J455 - $10,000
Bullfrog A7L - $9,200
Hope this helps others and is ok to post here.
Good Luck
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Just bought the Bull Frog A7L and was quoted the $9200, agreed to $9000 plus the was the $600 rebate over Labor Day weekend, brings total down to $8400. I put my deposit $2500 on my travel credit card for the points. I also just opened up two new credit cards to use for the balance. The first card I am only going to put the minimum of $500 Purchase so I receive the cards $100 cash back. The second card I will put the remaining balance on to take advantage of the $150 cash back, 1.5% earn back and 15 month interest free period!
So, once we add tax and subtract all this above, we walked out with the A7L for $8600!
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$7,394 for a Bulfrog R8 over the Labor Day weekend in Cleveland, OH area. Comes with the normal list of usuals (cover, lifter, chemicals, steps). This tub is outfitted with the stainless jets, color-matched jet packs, circulation pump, ozonator and speaker system. Pretty good buy with all of the add-on's by all accounts.
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$7,394 for a Bulfrog R8 over the Labor Day weekend in Cleveland, OH area. Comes with the normal list of usuals (cover, lifter, chemicals, steps). This tub is outfitted with the stainless jets, color-matched jet packs, circulation pump, ozonator and speaker system. Pretty good buy with all of the add-on's by all accounts.
I don't even believe you paid this price, it's not realistic....and not in the not realistic because its so low but in the its so low your dealer literally made no money, 0 profit on that spa....but hey congrats if true because you found literally found a dealer who just sold you something at basically cost after everything was "paid for" accessories/delivery/etc.
I need a new vehicle, do all the local Cleveland area business's sell at cost? lol
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$7,394 for a Bulfrog R8 over the Labor Day weekend in Cleveland, OH area. Comes with the normal list of usuals (cover, lifter, chemicals, steps). This tub is outfitted with the stainless jets, color-matched jet packs, circulation pump, ozonator and speaker system. Pretty good buy with all of the add-on's by all accounts.
I don't even believe you paid this price, it's not realistic....and not in the not realistic because its so low but in the its so low your dealer literally made no money, 0 profit on that spa....but hey congrats if true because you found literally found a dealer who just sold you something at basically cost after everything was "paid for" accessories/delivery/etc.
I need a new vehicle, do all the local Cleveland area business's sell at cost? lol
I posted a copy of my bill of sale in another thread. That's what I'm paying...
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I posted a copy of my bill of sale in another thread. That's what I'm paying...
That is a killer deal and is quite literally thousands less than I paid in northern California for my R8.
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Dealers around here try and get upwards of 2-3 grand margin per tub. That's hard to do all the time with the purchasing public being more and more savvy. It helps if a dealer buys them by the truck load but then your forced to choose for others/help others choose in your sales, what you have in stock or left in stock. And may even end up sitting on a color/model that is a harder sell. Till a deal is made. With orders from the factory (LTL/smaller) the freight increases the cost a bit. Large healthy service group is expensive also. Selling from property you own versus a lease. Lots of things effect how much margin is enough for each and every tub. Maybe the dealer DK bought from had a tremendous year and wanted to clear the warehouse before he made another full truck load order. Car dealers do it also and if your a savvy purchaser.........
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What dealer was this??? I'm from the Cleveland Ohio area.
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Not sure if I'm able to post dealer specifics here, but I'm happy to PM you details. I called them today to ask a few questions about delivery on my tub and asked what pricing would be if I referred them a few more people. My contact (sales manager) claims that they have one more R8 floor model located at another store that he is willing to extend the same price on. Once the floor model is gone, price will be 10% higher. He also has floor models of a Sundance Marin and a J-365 that were special ordered, but deals fell through. The colors are not common, so he's having a hard time moving them. He's at $7,600 on the Marin and $7,415 on the J-365 - again, both floor models. The Sundance is a Monaco Brown w/ teak and the 365 is a midnight blue color w/ teak (not sure on the exact color names and I was driving, so I'm recalling the color names from memory). Neither model has speakers.
I don't think enough credit is being given to their size and ability to order large QTY's. I believe their annul sales are somewhere in the $120 million range annually (again, recalling from the sales spiel given when I bought the tub).
Edited to add: I have zero affiliation with this dealer or any other dealer. Aside from researching this purchase for the past few months, i'm new to the hot tub world and have nothing to gain from posting here, other than trying to help others. If this post can help someone else locally score a great deal, I'm happy to do so.
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just purchased sundance aspen for $12800 out the door... of course with the usual stuff... free delivery, chemicals, cover/lifter (with upgraded cover material), steps, booster seat, and a bunch of rubber duckies. :)
was also quoted the jacuzzi j495 for $13995 + tax + $300 deliver... comes out to $15500+
that's why i went with the aspen
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Not sure if I'm able to post dealer specifics here, but I'm happy to PM you details. I called them today to ask a few questions about delivery on my tub and asked what pricing would be if I referred them a few more people. My contact (sales manager) claims that they have one more R8 floor model located at another store that he is willing to extend the same price on. Once the floor model is gone, price will be 10% higher. He also has floor models of a Sundance Marin and a J-365 that were special ordered, but deals fell through. The colors are not common, so he's having a hard time moving them. He's at $7,600 on the Marin and $7,415 on the J-365 - again, both floor models. The Sundance is a Monaco Brown w/ teak and the 365 is a midnight blue color w/ teak (not sure on the exact color names and I was driving, so I'm recalling the color names from memory). Neither model has speakers.
I don't think enough credit is being given to their size and ability to order large QTY's. I believe their annul sales are somewhere in the $120 million range annually (again, recalling from the sales spiel given when I bought the tub).
Edited to add: I have zero affiliation with this dealer or any other dealer. Aside from researching this purchase for the past few months, i'm new to the hot tub world and have nothing to gain from posting here, other than trying to help others. If this post can help someone else locally score a great deal, I'm happy to do so.
That would mean they would be selling 15000 or so tubs a year. They must have 40-50 stores
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I think he's referring to The Great Escape which is probably one of the largest pool/spa/backyard retailers in the country. When a large dealer like that buys in bulk, it may save them 10% wholesale or somewhere around that price, which wouldn't make it a huge savings to the consumer, but maybe $1000+ depending on the price of the spa. The Great Escape has tons of product categories, I think spas is a smaller percentage of their overall business. They are really big in outdoor furniture, gameroom, and pools if I'm not mistaken.
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I think the point people are trying to make is the price is unrealistic in 99% of the markets. Great price and many dealers will liquidate a spa that has sat for awhile. I got a Prodigy and Gleam I'd love to get rid of...
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I think he's referring to The Great Escape which is probably one of the largest pool/spa/backyard retailers in the country. When a large dealer like that buys in bulk, it may save them 10% wholesale or somewhere around that price, which wouldn't make it a huge savings to the consumer, but maybe $1000+ depending on the price of the spa. The Great Escape has tons of product categories, I think spas is a smaller percentage of their overall business. They are really big in outdoor furniture, gameroom, and pools if I'm not mistaken.
Bingo...
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You got a great price, who cares how you got it.. ;)
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You got a great price, who cares how you got it.. ;)
I don't. Evidently, others do ;D
I guess I confirmed where the bottom of the market is for the R8 (perhaps even a bit below the bottom). I guess that's the purpose of this thread, and hopefully a good days point for other potential buyers. Perhaps not such a good data point for the BF dealers ;)
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You guys are quoting ridiculous prices that other people should not expect to get. I assure that I would not sell an A7L or an R8 for the prices in this thread. Wouldn't even think about it. At some point you have to expect the dealer to have enough profit to pay their service department and delivery guys a livable wage. Those prices would force us to hire minimum wage service and delivery guys and maybe have less of them.
That's the flip side to all of this. You want that amazing deal, but you also want great service in a timely fashion. Providing that has a cost. A good experienced technician should be compensated commensurate with his abilities, if you want to keep him. There is a balance between good service and good deal. The problem is that you won't appreciate it or miss it until you need it.
*edit because it sounded unintentionally abrasive
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The purpose of this thread was to post the price you paid for your hot tub. I've done that, and explained numerous times how I arrived at that price with my dealer (floor model, Labor Day sale/rebate, dealing with one of the largest volume dealers in the country, etc.). If the intent was to figure out the best price to provide a living wage for the dealer and their service men, then I would have stayed out of this thread because I wouldn't know where to start. I think it's been pretty well established that my deal is basically at cost for most smaller dealers. This was my dealers initial offer price to me: no haggling, pushing, etc. on my part. I went in having researched what other comparable Bullfrogs typically sell for, and I knew that this was a fantastic price without question.
Again, this is a data point for other perspective buyers. I never stated that others should expect to get my same deal, but they can use this as knowledge essentially knowing what dealer cost is (or pretty close to it) for this model.
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Hi guys, I'm considering getting my first hot tub, and after doing a little research over the past several months, HotSpring and Bullfrog are of interest (though I'm also intrigued by that MicroSilk feature that Marquis and at least one other company offer - but the upgrade cost is probably too steep).
Anyway, it's really just my wife and I who plan to use it, so to keep costs down, I figured I'd focus on the smaller tubs. So a couple of interest to me are the HotSpring JetSetter and HotSpot SX or TX. Here are some prices I was quoted by a local dealer:
JetSetter NXT (3 person) - $10364 - $1000 manufacturer rebate
JetSetter (3 person) - $8851 - $1000 rebate
HotSpot SX (3 person) - $5700 + $250 for 220 electrical + $299 circulation pump
HotSpot TX (2 person) - $4980 + $250 for 220 electrical + $299 circulation pump
* All prices include cover, steps, delivery, initial chemicals (+ possibly sub-panel, too?)
Do these seem high or about average? Based on a little searching I did, they don't seem particularly low.
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To give you some feedback CT, those are far more in line with what I know most Hot Spring dealers sell. Of course, Hot Spring has a large variety of step types and lifter types, which can greatly affect the price. Saying it comes with a Step and Lift doesn't tell me much about what kind you get.
A leisure concept Covermate 1 Cover Lifter is what most dealers "give" away. It's a cheap lift that retails for $200 maybe. Same thing with a step.
Hot Spring makes a Lifter called a Lift N Glide that is somewhat comparable to that. They also make a lift called a Cover Cradle that easily goes for double the cost.
Steps are in the same vain in Hot Spring/Caldera world.
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Thanks for the reply.
I'm also intrigued by the MicroSilk option offered in some of the Marquis spas. I called one Marquis dealer today who said that they had a Spirit w/MicroSilk which they were heavily discounting at $9000. The color didn't sound ideal, and that price sounded awfully expensive for one of the smaller hot tubs. I know that they have a new Vector line out. What would be one of the smaller/less expensive Marquis tubs that I could get w/MicroSilk?
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Thanks for the reply.
I'm also intrigued by the MicroSilk option offered in some of the Marquis spas. I called one Marquis dealer today who said that they had a Spirit w/MicroSilk which they were heavily discounting at $9000. The color didn't sound ideal, and that price sounded awfully expensive for one of the smaller hot tubs. I know that they have a new Vector line out. What would be one of the smaller/less expensive Marquis tubs that I could get w/MicroSilk?
Size really has a lot less to do with price then you would think. Signature series Marquis are one of the best tubs on the market. You got a quote on a jet setter for roughly the same price. Have you compared the 2 tubs? As far as less expensive the vector 65L is available with microsilk and will probably come in cheaper. Microsilk as a option adds 1500-2000 to the price on its own. For 9k that tub is priced very well with that option on it
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You guys are quoting ridiculous prices that other people should not expect to get. I assure that I would not sell an A7L or an R8 for the prices in this thread. Wouldn't even think about it. At some point you have to expect the dealer to have enough profit to pay their service department and delivery guys a livable wage. Those prices would force us to hire minimum wage service and delivery guys and maybe have less of them.
That's the flip side to all of this. You want that amazing deal, but you also want great service in a timely fashion. Providing that has a cost. A good experienced technician should be compensated commensurate with his abilities, if you want to keep him. There is a balance between good service and good deal. The problem is that you won't appreciate it or miss it until you need it.
Not sure of your company situation.....or the company's situation we bought from. I run a business and have friends that run the same type of business I am involved with. Even though we sell the same products, we all have different rent, labor expenses, etc.
Yes, we paid $9,000 plus 6% sales tax for our A7L, I felt it was a good deal. I am still waiting for the dealer to call and tell me the tub is in, and my rebate check is in the mail!
All the credit card BS that I do is on me but I have been doing this crap for years and I best guesstimate over the last 10 years playing the credit card game on various purchases I have probably saved well over $2K with extended terms interest free!
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The purpose of this thread was to post the price you paid for your hot tub. I've done that, and explained numerous times how I arrived at that price with my dealer (floor model, Labor Day sale/rebate, dealing with one of the largest volume dealers in the country, etc.). If the intent was to figure out the best price to provide a living wage for the dealer and their service men, then I would have stayed out of this thread because I wouldn't know where to start. I think it's been pretty well established that my deal is basically at cost for most smaller dealers. This was my dealers initial offer price to me: no haggling, pushing, etc. on my part. I went in having researched what other comparable Bullfrogs typically sell for, and I knew that this was a fantastic price without question.
Again, this is a data point for other perspective buyers. I never stated that others should expect to get my same deal, but they can use this as knowledge essentially knowing what dealer cost is (or pretty close to it) for this model.
I totally get it and didn't mean to sound combative. I just wanted provide additional insight on the topic. The internet has changed the way people shop and tends to reduce things to price only. We put a lot of resources and energy into providing the best service, support, and overall experience in town. It's a difficult thing to quantify, yet arguably as important as the product itself in our industry. I see some of these prices and question how they can sell them that cheap while still offering great service.
I completely respect the consumer's right to find the best deal that he can. I'd just hate to see shoppers think they are getting hosed when they see numbers thousands over some posted here. I've actually had it happen to me before. A customer saw a price online and questioned whether we were overcharging her. If you looked at average prices nationally, she actually did a little better but that didn't change her negative opinion.
Not to get too far offtrack but our price obsessed consumers in this country have drastically changed our economy over the years. We went from locally owned mom and pop stores to walmart (for example), where the employees live in poverty and their wages are subsidized by the tax payers with government assistance programs. We stopped manufacturing so many things in our country because people didn't want to pay for it. Now everything is made in China where it's cheaper, and quality has suffered. America generally does not want to pay for quality. We voted with our dollars.
Sorry for the rant.
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The purpose of this thread was to post the price you paid for your hot tub. I've done that, and explained numerous times how I arrived at that price with my dealer (floor model, Labor Day sale/rebate, dealing with one of the largest volume dealers in the country, etc.). If the intent was to figure out the best price to provide a living wage for the dealer and their service men, then I would have stayed out of this thread because I wouldn't know where to start. I think it's been pretty well established that my deal is basically at cost for most smaller dealers. This was my dealers initial offer price to me: no haggling, pushing, etc. on my part. I went in having researched what other comparable Bullfrogs typically sell for, and I knew that this was a fantastic price without question.
Again, this is a data point for other perspective buyers. I never stated that others should expect to get my same deal, but they can use this as knowledge essentially knowing what dealer cost is (or pretty close to it) for this model.
I totally get it and didn't mean to sound combative. I just wanted provide additional insight on the topic. The internet has changed the way people shop and tends to reduce things to price only. We put a lot of resources and energy into providing the best service, support, and overall experience in town. It's a difficult thing to quantify, yet arguably as important as the product itself in our industry. I see some of these prices and question how they can sell them that cheap while still offering great service.
I completely respect the consumer's right to find the best deal that he can. I'd just hate to see shoppers think they are getting hosed when they see numbers thousands over some posted here. I've actually had it happen to me before. A customer saw a price online and questioned whether we were overcharging her. If you looked at average prices nationally, she actually did a little better but that didn't change her negative opinion.
Not to get too far offtrack but our price obsessed consumers in this country have drastically changed our economy over the years. We went from locally owned mom and pop stores to walmart (for example), where the employees live in poverty and their wages are subsidized by the tax payers with government assistance programs. We stopped manufacturing so many things in our country because people didn't want to pay for it. Now everything is made in China where it's cheaper, and quality has suffered. America generally does not want to pay for quality. We voted with our dollars.
Sorry for the rant.
No need to apologize, and I get what you are saying and frankly, agree with you. i can't attest to the service, but it will be interesting to see how they treat me if/when I need something.
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I do not disagree that a dealer should make a reasonable profit on their sales. We should all want our dealers to stay in business to be there for the service calls and next purchase.
However, I started this thread because of my frustration in trying to find out information on the real value of a hot tub. For all of the really great deals that people find on a hot tub, I bet there are 5 more people who came in and paid something close to the asking price. Without pricing information, the buyer is at an extreme disadvantage in the negotiation. Hopefully this website and this thread can help even the playing field for the few who find it. I am thankful that this site existed for my purchase process.
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I do not disagree that a dealer should make a reasonable profit on their sales. We should all want our dealers to stay in business to be there for the service calls and next purchase.
However, I started this thread because of my frustration in trying to find out information on the real value of a hot tub. For all of the really great deals that people find on a hot tub, I bet there are 5 more people who came in and paid something close to the asking price. Without pricing information, the buyer is at an extreme disadvantage in the negotiation. Hopefully this website and this thread can help even the playing field for the few who find it. I am thankful that this site existed for my purchase process.
The only thing I would add to your thread and specifically your first post is which set of stairs and which cover lift you got. Hot Spring makes I think 4 different ones that are priced a lot differently and I believe 3 different kinds of steps that are priced differently
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CT-Scott: $9000 for the Marquis Spirit with MicroSilk is a steal. That's a $2000+ add-on, and the base model Spirit typically sells in the $9000 range without that option. It would be a no-brainer to me if I was looking at a Jetsetter for $9000-10000+ (no disrespect to HotSpring, that is also a nice tub).
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Hi guys, I'm considering getting my first hot tub, and after doing a little research over the past several months, HotSpring and Bullfrog are of interest (though I'm also intrigued by that MicroSilk feature that Marquis and at least one other company offer - but the upgrade cost is probably too steep).
Anyway, it's really just my wife and I who plan to use it, so to keep costs down, I figured I'd focus on the smaller tubs. So a couple of interest to me are the HotSpring JetSetter and HotSpot SX or TX. Here are some prices I was quoted by a local dealer:
JetSetter NXT (3 person) - $10364 - $1000 manufacturer rebate
JetSetter (3 person) - $8851 - $1000 rebate
HotSpot SX (3 person) - $5700 + $250 for 220 electrical + $299 circulation pump
HotSpot TX (2 person) - $4980 + $250 for 220 electrical + $299 circulation pump
* All prices include cover, steps, delivery, initial chemicals (+ possibly sub-panel, too?)
Do these seem high or about average? Based on a little searching I did, they don't seem particularly low
If your looking at a jetsetter but like MicroSilk you should check out the V65L by Marquis, it's MicroSilk Eligible and a lower cost than the signature series