Why France Motorhome Sales 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.

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.

Clients following you

France Motorhome Sales is constantly building up and rotating a network of the dealers with the best customer service to support clients in their purchases. It is important to maintain a good relationship with them for both yourself as a client and the people following in your footsteps.

Best practice

It is for these reasons that I do not negotiate on price on behalf of clients. The dealer is the key part of the purchase process and who knows what they may be later relied on to help you with, keeping them onside is paramount to a smooth trip.