Glastron "real deal" pricing misleading....

erlindbl

Seaman
Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Messages
66
If you go to Glastron's website they talk up the "Real Deal" pricing and how there is no haggling and they don't mark it up for you to negotiate it down. What you see is what you get. Well......

I went to the Orange County Boat Show today and contacted Bill from Empire Marine. I took the website printout and their price list for the boat was exactly the same. That's was the good news. The boat priced out at $34079.72 on the website and by his figures. I was ready to buy. Bill then told me the dealer adds $795.00 dealer prep and $110 doc fee. I objected, and he called the owner (Jerry I believe) and the haggling began. Finally, Bill told me Jerry said it cost more money to get the boat out here so, bottom line, it would cost me $300.00 extra. I told him no based on principle more than the $300 .00. I told them their selling campaign is ?real deal? and that?s what brought me to Glastron. I can't see how they won the Customer Satisfaction Award when they won't sell the boat for what they advertise. I don't know if this is just this dealer or if all Glastron dealers do business this way. It's practices like this that give salesman a bad name.

I sent an E-mail to Glastron for an explanation, and I'll let you know their reply. I just wanted to give a heads up to those thinking about buying a new Glastron and who might be perusing their website.
 

azlakes

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 8, 2007
Messages
720
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

... yep stand firm. tax and lic that should be it. shipping, doc, rigging are fees that can be worked.
 

derekpfeiffer

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 3, 2008
Messages
214
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Yeah I agree...i'm also a man of principle and if someone advertises something they had better stand behind it. STAND YOUR GROUND!!!
 

erlindbl

Seaman
Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Messages
66
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Forgot to mention... I was counting the the $719.00 shipping fee in the total. That was listed on the website. I guess the owner wants the $300.00 on top of that.

Any excuse to get an extra buck....
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

you did your homework, stand by it.
 

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,771
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

In our neck of the woods, the term "water ready" is used to indicated what the boat includes or does not include. As mentioned, the only thing left is the tax and license fees. We do have some low lifes that try to dupe people with extra charges but fortunately they are few in number.
 

tmh

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Aug 16, 2006
Messages
1,136
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Not to be pettey, but I've started to walked on a auto deal over a $40 prep fee or whatever they snuck in after the negotiation (yeah, they took it out when i started to get up). The dealer said "c'mon, you're going to scratch a $25K+ deal over $40? I just told him, NO, I DIDN'T change the deal, THEY did. ridiculous.

I am all for a dealer making a profit but any attempt to grab a few $$$ out of your pocket AFTER the deal stews me.

In your case, I'd offer a bit below the REAL DEAL price and walk if he can't do it. Then at least you'll know if that's just a phoney bottom line price they use fo folks afraid to haggle. I'd haggle, 90% chance there's at least some haggle room in that price.
 

country_bumpkin

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 9, 2007
Messages
255
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Not to be pettey, but I've started to walked on a auto deal over a $40 prep fee or whatever they snuck in after the negotiation (yeah, they took it out when i started to get up). The dealer said "c'mon, you're going to scratch a $25K+ deal over $40? I just told him, NO, I DIDN'T change the deal, THEY did. ridiculous.

I am all for a dealer making a profit but any attempt to grab a few $$$ out of your pocket AFTER the deal stews me.

In your case, I'd offer a bit below the REAL DEAL price and walk if he can't do it. Then at least you'll know if that's just a phoney bottom line price they use fo folks afraid to haggle. I'd haggle, 90% chance there's at least some haggle room in that price.


I've done this in a convenience store, they advertised the sixpack for 3.99, but when the owner rang it up he wanted 4.29. I complained and said the ad on the door said 3.99. He said the ad was wrong.

I walked out.

Right on, stand your ground. You made the decision to buy based on an advertised price!
 

fishmen111

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
637
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

I doubt new 35k boats are going to be the hot sellers they have in years past. Not only would I not accept any add-on fees, I would make them an offer slightly lower than the "no haggle" price. The few times I have bought new, I have stated my out-the-door offer which means exactly that, not a penny more. Make an offer, they will say no of course, leave your name and # and walk out the door. Bet you they call.
 

codertimt

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Apr 3, 2008
Messages
88
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Taken straight off the Glastron web site...

Code:
* The Real Deal prices and discounts are available at participating
U.S. dealers only and do not include dealer prep, tax, title or license.
Prices apply to 2008 Glastron models only
.

Now, that's not to say that there is no room to haggle with you're dealer about any extra fees. Heck, I'm sure there's wiggle room in the "real deal" pricing also, it just doesn't seem as inflated as a traditional MSRP...but it's really hard to know as there aren't any invoices resources available for boats such as we have for cars now.

I just bought a leftover 2007 GT 185(still shrinkwrapped), over $5000 off current "real deal" pricing and he voluntarily dropped the deal prep fees as he wanted to move the boat. I still payed the title and doc fees($100 total), but I was aware that they would be there and although probably inflated, I've come to accept them...just as I've come to accept that when you purchase something online or mail order, the shipping and handling is often more than the actual s&h cost. You just have to figure it in you're deal beforehand. Perhaps I'm just defeated and the car and boat dealerships have truly won... :)
 

erlindbl

Seaman
Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Messages
66
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Good observation. I looked at that website three times and didn't see the dealer prep reference you quoted. It is not under where they talk about the real deal pricing. It is in small letters under where you build and price your boat.

It makes no sense to me to talk about real deal pricing and then have the dealer tack on almost $905.00 dollars in dealer prep and document fees. I stand corrected on their website.

Oh well, they either take the offer and sell the boat or I start looking at that much more expensive Grady White I really wanted but couldn't get the wife to go for.

This may work out in the end anyway......
 

jddenham

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 8, 2006
Messages
393
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

I've done this in a convenience store, they advertised the sixpack for 3.99, but when the owner rang it up he wanted 4.29. I complained and said the ad on the door said 3.99. He said the ad was wrong.

I walked out.

Right on, stand your ground. You made the decision to buy based on an advertised price!

8% sales tax buddy . . . LOL

What kind of six pack are we talking about here anyway?
 

Hashi

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 19, 2007
Messages
502
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

"Real Deal" and "No Haggle Pricing" are all marketing gimmicks. If dealer wants to lower advertised prices, he can. Depends how bad he needs to sell a boat.
 

Shawn_floats

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Feb 3, 2008
Messages
35
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

I went through this exact same issue with Glastron in February when we ended up buying a Searay.
The Real Deal pricing is almost a total joke up here in Canada because the trailer is not included in the Real Deal pricing.
So, as I discovered, they jack the trailer price up massively (to like $4000) THEN they also add extra for shipping charges and PDI.

The final figure was WAY higher than what I was led to believe - so much so that we walked out of disgust to a different brand completely.

In the end, our Searay ended up coasting LESS than the equivalent Glastron.
The Searay was much lower than their website MSRP and the Glastron was much HIGHER than than the Real Deal pricing.

It left a bad taste in my mouth.
 

ebry710

Ensign
Joined
Jan 29, 2008
Messages
981
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Anytime a dealer can add value onto the "out the door" price, extra profit is made. Call it prep, shipping or even tax/license, a dealer wants you to cover as much as you will so his margin can be protected. Anything to distract you from his profit. To me "real deal" is "real predetermined profit". Negotiate. Walk out . Negotiate again and always shop around.
 

lucky7

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
262
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

dont blame glastron for a shmuck dealer, i just got a great deal on a new one.
 

Gemini53

Recruit
Joined
Apr 5, 2008
Messages
1
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

You people are all SO Quick to jump on the dealer. I checked the "real deal" website and it CLEARLY STATES that the real deal prices "do not include dealer prep, tax, title, or license." I don't blame anyone for trying to get a good deal, but you should read the fine print before you blame the dealer for not holding to a price.
 

fishmen111

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
637
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

You are right gemini, that is what it states. What I am saying is that anything is negotiable...anything. We live in a capitalist society. They can state any sales policy they want, but we still have the option to offer any price we want and the option to walk. Supply and demand. I bought a Stang last year and they hit me with all kinds of fees that did not bother me because they took 7k off the car price. Out the door price is all that matters. How they want to itemize the bill of sale is their problem. "No haggle" is a sales pitch to imply that anything less is impossible because "we would lose money". Bull. My $.02 rant. (actually, I bought this rant for $.01).
 

azlakes

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 8, 2007
Messages
720
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

... couple 1st time posts defending the dealers. they are watching us :cool:
 

Shawn_floats

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Feb 3, 2008
Messages
35
Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

Re: Glastron "real deal" pricing a joke......

I think the real problem is that the "Real Deal" price isn't really the final price, which is what it generally tries to imply, only to be un-done with "extras" in the fine print. Yes, it's all there in fine print, but it then no longer accomplishes what, in principle, it set out to do, which is give the buyer the initial perception that it's the out-the-door price with no haggling.

In principle, fine-print extra costs with this particular kind of advertising campaign is a bit underhanded.

And if Glastron can't even hold it's dealers to this structure, then why have it at all. It becomes nothing more than an advertising gimmick.

I'm not blaming Glastron OR the dealer. I just let my money do the talking, and it talked to SeaRay. :D
And THAt my friends, was the REAL DEAL.
 
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