Online company not wanting extra business?

robin7

robin7

robin7

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So bit of an odd one, but I'm buying a load of new guitar related stuff. And found that one of the products I wanted is only with one online site who could deliver to me.

The order is both me and a friend so it's around 800 for just the one product, or 4k when it's combined with the rest of our order. However all of the order is 'slightly' cheaper elsewhere (even combining double shipping charges it's cheaper to buy from two websites). So I emailed them and explained this, asked if they would price match or discount the order by 5 or 10% as it would be nice to get it all from one place.

They replied no, they don't price match and can't offer discounts. Anything else they can help me with?

It just seems really weird. I'm not going to name them as I'm probably still going to get the one product from them, and they've been really polite and replied to my emails straight away. While I know online margins are low, most things are at the RRP not discounted anyways, the one product they have is actually OVER the RRP (but they're the only online place with it in UK). So assuming the margins are not terrible (it's not ebay/etc) why would you not offer a tiny 5% discount in order to get a customer to spend over 4 times what they'll spend with you otherwise. It would stop me buying from their competition and make me more likely to use them in the future.

Just seems a bit odd to me. Thoughts?
 
They might feel the service that they offer is worth the price that they're selling at. If their competition wishes to sell below RRP and not make much profit, that's entirely up to them.

At the end of the day, their business is still running for a reason.
 
Semple said:
They might feel the service that they offer is worth the price that they're selling at. If their competition wishes to sell below RRP and not make much profit, that's entirely up to them.

At the end of the day, their business is still running for a reason.
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Yeah I do see your reasoning, and they've been nothing polite so it's really not a slate against them at all. I guess I just found it an odd thing as it's quite a lot of money so I would have imagined for the sake of 5% it would still have been worth it for them?
 
Probably has something to do with them allegedly being the only eCommerce website to stock it in the UK, sounds like they've got quite a bit of leverage on the average folk that isn't prepared to get stuff shipped from abroad.
 
RyanF said:
Probably has something to do with them allegedly being the only eCommerce website to stock it in the UK, sounds like they've got quite a bit of leverage on the average folk that isn't prepared to get stuff shipped from abroad.
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Well that's one £800 product out of the 4,000 order. So I'll still buy that product from them, they've been very polite in any case. But the rest of the order I'll be getting elsewhere.
 
The_Abyss said:
You said it yourself, you're still going to buy from them. So why should they reduce their price by %?
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I'm buying ONE product from them. For £800, the rest of the order I'll buy from their competition (£3,200) because it's a fair bit of saving.
 
I have exclusivity on quite a few items I sell, but would still do a deal if needed. And yes, some are above the RRP - but that's business.

To not offer a tiny discount seems odd at first glance, but I bet they know they can sell it to someone else for full price.
 
Paul11 said:
lots of companies do not price match.. its just the way it is
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On a one-off item I could understand, but to close a £4k deal, I'm sure they could have some flexibility!

I guess the loss of say £200 (if they give you a 5% discount) isn't worth it to them
 
Haggisman said:
On a one-off item I could understand, but to close a £4k deal, I'm sure they could have some flexibility!

I guess the loss of say £200 (if they give you a 5% discount) isn't worth it to them
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That was kinda my thinking about it. Ie. if £200 loss on that order made the whole order not worthwhile... then how do they sell enough to stay in business? So I guess it's not about profits but perhaps it's just the way they work. Which is fair enough, I suppose I just found it unusual hence the thread.
 
Let's be fair...
You're ordering a new £4000 PC from an OCUK competitor and the CPU was £800 and cheaper with OCUK.
You email OCUK and ask for a discount; they'd say no too.
 
depending on the product they may not be allowed to discount it if they are an exclusive supplier...
Some retailers will have to charge a certain amount to cover their overheads etc - no point in them making a loss to offer a one off purchase at a discount. Every store has their own business plan for their own circumstances
 
the_r_sole said:
depending on the product they may not be allowed to discount it if they are an exclusive supplier...
Some retailers will have to charge a certain amount to cover their overheads etc - no point in them making a loss to offer a one off purchase at a discount. Every store has their own business plan for their own circumstances
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That one product fair enough but my email didn't even list what the rest of the order was other than mentioning it was a guitar and another amp (Not the actual brand/product name). However it could have been possible for the amp that they have exclusively.
 
I would have imagined a small shop you could do a deal with.

Can't imagine someone the size of say Overclockers or their competitors (ok different industry but you get the idea) would negotiate on individuals orders unless it was quite a lot more than £4k or repeat business.
 
Deathjester said:
Let's be fair...
You're ordering a new £4000 PC from an OCUK competitor and the CPU was £800 and cheaper with OCUK.
You email OCUK and ask for a discount; they'd say no too.
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You would be surprised and I think you would find out they would say yes. They did with me anyway.
 
robin7 said:
So bit of an odd one, but I'm buying a load of new guitar related stuff. And found that one of the products I wanted is only with one online site who could deliver to me.

The order is both me and a friend so it's around 800 for just the one product, or 4k when it's combined with the rest of our order. However all of the order is 'slightly' cheaper elsewhere (even combining double shipping charges it's cheaper to buy from two websites). So I emailed them and explained this, asked if they would price match or discount the order by 5 or 10% as it would be nice to get it all from one place.

They replied no, they don't price match and can't offer discounts. Anything else they can help me with?

It just seems really weird. I'm not going to name them as I'm probably still going to get the one product from them, and they've been really polite and replied to my emails straight away. While I know online margins are low, most things are at the RRP not discounted anyways, the one product they have is actually OVER the RRP (but they're the only online place with it in UK). So assuming the margins are not terrible (it's not ebay/etc) why would you not offer a tiny 5% discount in order to get a customer to spend over 4 times what they'll spend with you otherwise. It would stop me buying from their competition and make me more likely to use them in the future.

Just seems a bit odd to me. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

maybe a simple one off transaction. have you transacted with them before?
 
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