Why France Motorhome Sales (mostly) does not negotiate on price
Why France Motorhome Sales (mostly) does not negotiate on price
Purchasing a motorhome remotely as a non-resident necessitates a reliable dealer to make it happen, I explain why France Motorhome Sales does not negotiate on price in most cases.
Resident vs Non-resident Buyer
A run-of-the-mill French buyer will walk into a dealership, handle all the paperwork in person and go through the handover in their native language.
As a non-resident the entire transaction has to be done remotely over email & phone, there are significantly more questions and arrangements to make for the delivery plus the handover itself takes much longer with the language barrier. This totals a more time-consuming transaction on the dealer’s part.
French culture
Culturally negotiating on price is not common and when it is attempted by French people it is for small amounts. Generally there is a strong emphasis on courtesy and respect in France and negotiating hard on price is antithetical to this.
Taxes Rates
A French business will on average have a tax rate ~50% so giving discounts of ~2000 EUR might be the majority of their net margin making it completely uneconomical.
Competitive prices
With all dealers now competing online, making price comparisons between them easy which in turn makes overcharging difficult. France Motorhome Sales will also give their opinion whether a display price represents fair market value or not to protect you from any rare occurrences of this.
When it may be appropriate
There is the odd occasion where challenging the price may bear fruit. If the vehicle you are enquiring about is unusual in some way and there is evidence that it has been advertised for several months. An example being a heavy-goods model with an autumnal set of photos still live in spring. Demand for this type of vehicle is lower and the dealer may be happy to incentivise the sale.
