Sofa - discounts

[c31]

Anyone haggled with DFS or Sofology for a new sofa? If so how much did you get off the sofa?

cheers...

[Pretty Boy]

I used to work for Sterling furniture many year ago so can probably help here.

Firstly, and this is no shock to anyone, the 'sale' isn't a sale. That's the price they want to sell at and still have a good margin. In the occasional periods when, for legal reasons, there wasn't a sale the price tickets are simply turned around. One side says '£1099', the other side says 'SALE £799'. If someone asked for a discount you sat them down a discreet distance away, said you would go and check and came back and gave them the so called sale price which was, to all intents and purposes, the list price.

Even if the sale signs are up always, always haggle. As I said there is still a good margin at those prices. When I was at Sterling the guys on the floor had authority to discount to between 10 and 15% so ask for 20.

Secondly, and this is legally dubious on the companies part, your more likely to get a discount by paying up front, particularly in cash. The prices are set (some may say inflated) to cover the 'interest free' credit schemes. Don't explicitly ask for a discount for cash/card, they are obliged to say no, but when you suggest a price you are happy with reach for your wallet, start to slip your card out etc.

Finally agree early on to take out the 'stain protection plan' or whatever they call it. Initially because these are actually quite good deals and not the con many believe. Also it's extra commission for the salesperson. When I was at Sterling we got 1% on sales, 0.5% if we sold stock that could be delivered within a week and another 1% for selling the plan. Even if that means knocking 15% off the price their commission is still better with the plan and a discount than selling at the set price so if they are switched on they will be more prone to negotiate.

Lastly know when to walk away. You will get salespeople and store managers who just will not budge. If you aren't happy with the price then look elsewhere.

[calumhibee1]

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I used to work for Sterling furniture many year ago so can probably help here.

Firstly, and this is no shock to anyone, the 'sale' isn't a sale. That's the price they want to sell at and still have a good margin. In the occasional periods when, for legal reasons, there wasn't a sale the price tickets are simply turned around. One side says '£1099', the other side says 'SALE £799'. If someone asked for a discount you sat them down a discreet distance away, said you would go and check and came back and gave them the so called sale price which was, to all intents and purposes, the list price.

Even if the sale signs are up always, always haggle. As I said there is still a good margin at those prices. When I was at Sterling the guys on the floor had authority to discount to between 10 and 15% so ask for 20.

Secondly, and this is legally dubious on the companies part, your more likely to get a discount by paying up front, particularly in cash. The prices are set (some may say inflated) to cover the 'interest free' credit schemes. Don't explicitly ask for a discount for cash/card, they are obliged to say no, but when you suggest a price you are happy with reach for your wallet, start to slip your card out etc.

Finally agree early on to take out the 'stain protection plan' or whatever they call it. Initially because these are actually quite good deals and not the con many believe. Also it's extra commission for the salesperson. When I was at Sterling we got 1% on sales, 0.5% if we sold stock that could be delivered within a week and another 1% for selling the plan. Even if that means knocking 15% off the price their commission is still better with the plan and a discount than selling at the set price so if they are switched on they will be more prone to negotiate.

Lastly know when to walk away. You will get salespeople and store managers who just will not budge. If you aren't happy with the price then look elsewhere.

Jesus. So someone could go in and pay £1099 if they didn’t haggle or pay nearly half that price if it was ‘on sale’ and they did.

[Pretty Boy]

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Jesus. So someone could go in and pay £1099 if they didn’t haggle or pay nearly half that price if it was ‘on sale’ and they did.

Yep it didn't happen often but it did happen.

One of the many reasons I left the role, it's good money but very target driven and I didn't particularly enjoy it. I'm still in sales now but a completely different environment that is far more about building relationships.

It was also a ridiculously competitive environment and colleagues were reluctant to help each other out because it may have meant losing a sale. I remember one instance in which there was an argument over someone stealing a sale, a guy walked in to the staff area, picked a guy up by the scruff of his neck and hung him from a coat hook on the wall.

[c31]

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I used to work for Sterling furniture many year ago so can probably help here.

Firstly, and this is no shock to anyone, the 'sale' isn't a sale. That's the price they want to sell at and still have a good margin. In the occasional periods when, for legal reasons, there wasn't a sale the price tickets are simply turned around. One side says '£1099', the other side says 'SALE £799'. If someone asked for a discount you sat them down a discreet distance away, said you would go and check and came back and gave them the so called sale price which was, to all intents and purposes, the list price.

Even if the sale signs are up always, always haggle. As I said there is still a good margin at those prices. When I was at Sterling the guys on the floor had authority to discount to between 10 and 15% so ask for 20.

Secondly, and this is legally dubious on the companies part, your more likely to get a discount by paying up front, particularly in cash. The prices are set (some may say inflated) to cover the 'interest free' credit schemes. Don't explicitly ask for a discount for cash/card, they are obliged to say no, but when you suggest a price you are happy with reach for your wallet, start to slip your card out etc.

Finally agree early on to take out the 'stain protection plan' or whatever they call it. Initially because these are actually quite good deals and not the con many believe. Also it's extra commission for the salesperson. When I was at Sterling we got 1% on sales, 0.5% if we sold stock that could be delivered within a week and another 1% for selling the plan. Even if that means knocking 15% off the price their commission is still better with the plan and a discount than selling at the set price so if they are switched on they will be more prone to negotiate.

Lastly know when to walk away. You will get salespeople and store managers who just will not budge. If you aren't happy with the price then look elsewhere.

Thanks for that very helpful.
cheers

[frazeHFC]

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It was also a ridiculously competitive environment and colleagues were reluctant to help each other out because it may have meant losing a sale. I remember one instance in which there was an argument over someone stealing a sale, a guy walked in to the staff area, picked a guy up by the scruff of his neck and hung him from a coat hook on the wall.

Not sure why I clicked on this thread but I'm glad I did 😂 Also for the helpful tip re haggling.

[matty_f]

Legally, the sofas in the sale have to be at a higher price in a certain percentage of a chain's stores for a period of time, so you'll often see some sofas massively overpriced stuck in a corner somewhere so that it can be listed as a sale item at its actual price somewhere else (supermarkets do this with items all the time), so there's always some wiggle room and depending on the sofa you go for, if it's the one with the vastly inflated price, you could get a big discount on it without the retailer taking any hit at all.

[EH6 Hibby]

I’m not happy. I bought 2 sofas up front from DFS last year, and I paid the advertised price. I had no idea I could get a better deal.

[helenm]

Our DFS one ….the cheapest one they did….. (Not by choice, we sat on them all before finding out the price). It’s lasted 8years to date.We were 1200 quid for this https://www.reclinerland.com/best-recliners/ 3 seats and 2 seat leather reclining sofa.Delivery was a pain in the arse though 8 weeks and it’ll be delivered on xyz day

[patch1875]

We are running the sofa buying gauntlet soon can’t say I’m looking forward too it!

Last one we bought was from habitat so an online purchase. We are needing 2 or 3 new ones for our new place feels like it’s the same as buying a new car.

[Just Alf]

Mother in law gets her new suite delivered tomorrow from SCS.

Originally ordered August 2021.

NOT a typo!