Having priced up a fairly expensive kitchen (£5K) at MFI ( excluding
appliances which I will source elsewhere) I wondered if anyone has any
idea whether MFI are willing to negotiate a discount (not the "70%"
off so called special offers & sale prices) but basically a reduction
"for cash".

I can always ask of course, but wondered if anyone has successfully
done so with MFI?

Cheers.

On 1 Feb 2004 14:27:37 -0800, (leaky_caldron) wrote:

Having priced up a fairly expensive kitchen (£5K) at MFI ( excluding
appliances which I will source elsewhere) I wondered if anyone has any
idea whether MFI are willing to negotiate a discount (not the "70%"
off so called special offers & sale prices) but basically a reduction
"for cash".

I can always ask of course, but wondered if anyone has successfully
done so with MFI?

Cheers.

What does "for cash" mean?

Do you mean a cash or cheque payment vs. using a credit card.
For this you could ask for 3-6% discount since that would be the card
company's take from the transaction.

Bear in mind that if you buy on a credit card, you have the protection
of the Consumer Credit Act. If MFI don't perform in some way, you
have a come back to the card company. That may be worth considering
unless you are trying to pinch to the last penny.

If by "for cash" you mean pound notes in the assistant's pocket, then
I suppose there are always bent shop assistants.......

You could also go into the store, ask to see the manager and ask him
when his month end is. He might like a £5k order if he's a little
short.

Bear in mind though, that the margins on kitchen furniture are
massive, so discounts could be large without the retailer being too
squeezed.




..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

leaky_caldron wrote:
Having priced up a fairly expensive kitchen (£5K) at MFI ( excluding
appliances which I will source elsewhere) I wondered if anyone has any
idea whether MFI are willing to negotiate a discount (not the "70%"
off so called special offers & sale prices) but basically a reduction
"for cash".

I can always ask of course, but wondered if anyone has successfully
done so with MFI?

Cheers.

You may find that actually taking their finance would reduce the price
somewhat. Often they will get a kick-back for selling the finance to you
and share it with you in the form of a price reduction.

For businesses handling cash is not a cheap thing - someone has to take it
to the bank, which is risky, time consuming or costly (if you pay a company
to collect). Whilst credit cards may have a surcharge to them, it can often
be cheaper for them to pay that, than handle cash. Note, this is exactly
why Tesco etc provide cash-back. Its costing them pretty much the same for
you to take up to £50 extra out when they do the transaction - whereas they
can get rid of £50 cash without having to bank it (or pay someone to collect
it).

Some dodgy companies may give you discount for cash because it can go
through the company without being seen on the books or bank statements (and
therefore tax returns). I doubt MFI would be involved with such practices!


David

"David Hearn" wrote in message
...
For businesses handling cash is not a cheap thing - someone has to
take it
to the bank, which is risky, time consuming or costly (if you pay a
company
to collect). Whilst credit cards may have a surcharge to them, it
can often
be cheaper for them to pay that, than handle cash. Note, this is
exactly
why Tesco etc provide cash-back. Its costing them pretty much the
same for
you to take up to £50 extra out when they do the transaction -
whereas they
can get rid of £50 cash without having to bank it (or pay someone
to collect
it).

Supermarkets only offer cash back on debit cards for which there is
no charge (unlike Credit Cards) to the retailer.

Angela wrote:
"David Hearn" wrote in message
...
For businesses handling cash is not a cheap thing - someone has to
take it to the bank, which is risky, time consuming or costly (if
you pay a company to collect). Whilst credit cards may have a
surcharge to them, it can often be cheaper for them to pay that,
than handle cash. Note, this is exactly why Tesco etc provide
cash-back. Its costing them pretty much the same for you to take up
to £50 extra out when they do the transaction - whereas they can get
rid of £50 cash without having to bank it (or pay someone to collect
it).

Supermarkets only offer cash back on debit cards for which there is
no charge (unlike Credit Cards) to the retailer.

It is a fixed charge to the retailer per transaction - rather than a %
charge. Therefore it costs the same to process a £500 transaction as a £1
one. The charge is not insignficant actually, therefore buying a cheap
newspaper or some cheap sweets on a debit may well cost them more to handle
than the transaction amount - or at least, reduce any profit to next to
nothing.

D

David Hearn wrote in message ...
I doubt MFI would be involved with such practices!


Look carefully at a receipt from MFI!!

Regards
Capitol

leaky_caldron wrote:
Having priced up a fairly expensive kitchen (£5K) at MFI ( excluding
appliances which I will source elsewhere) I wondered if anyone has any
idea whether MFI are willing to negotiate a discount (not the "70%"
off so called special offers & sale prices) but basically a reduction
"for cash".

I can always ask of course, but wondered if anyone has successfully
done so with MFI?

Cheers.
A friend of mine recently bought a kitchen from MFI that was in the sale
at 50% off. He spent threee hours planning the kitchen with one of their
staff then said that he didn't want any of the included appliances but
wanted 75% off instead

The manager was called and he had a little think in his office then
agreed - so it is possible

Mind you, you have to be VERY persuasive and persistent

When you do this you have to "Pay Now", not "go away and think about it"

You could alys just wait for the extra good sale, there is always some form of sale at MFI, some are better than others, but I have never done the math to prove it, so
maybe I have only worked out half the game.

Rick

On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 11:57:41 +0000, Nick Brooks wrote:
leaky_caldron wrote:
Having priced up a fairly expensive kitchen (£5K) at MFI ( excluding
appliances which I will source elsewhere) I wondered if anyone has any
idea whether MFI are willing to negotiate a discount (not the "70%"
off so called special offers & sale prices) but basically a reduction
"for cash".

I can always ask of course, but wondered if anyone has successfully
done so with MFI?

Cheers.
A friend of mine recently bought a kitchen from MFI that was in the sale
at 50% off. He spent threee hours planning the kitchen with one of their
staff then said that he didn't want any of the included appliances but
wanted 75% off instead

The manager was called and he had a little think in his office then
agreed - so it is possible

Mind you, you have to be VERY persuasive and persistent

In message , Rick Dipper
writes
When you do this you have to "Pay Now", not "go away and think about it"

You could alys just wait for the extra good sale, there is always some
form of sale at MFI, some are better than others, but I have never done
the math to prove it, so
maybe I have only worked out half the game.

Rick
Having taken some interest in MFI sale policy, basically there's nearly
always the headline 50% off (*), plus the almost continuous sale at an
additional 15,20 or 25% off, subject to minimum spend (I have last years
summer sale price list here, min spend varies from £2500 on kitchens to
£500 on bedroom stuff)

(* why would any _ever_ buy at full list price from MFI???)

--
Steve

"Nick Brooks" wrote in message
...
leaky_caldron wrote:
Having priced up a fairly expensive kitchen (£5K) at MFI ( excluding
appliances which I will source elsewhere) I wondered if anyone has any
idea whether MFI are willing to negotiate a discount (not the "70%"
off so called special offers & sale prices) but basically a reduction
"for cash".

I can always ask of course, but wondered if anyone has successfully
done so with MFI?

Cheers.
A friend of mine recently bought a kitchen from MFI that was in the sale
at 50% off. He spent threee hours planning the kitchen with one of their
staff then said that he didn't want any of the included appliances but
wanted 75% off instead

The manager was called and he had a little think in his office then
agreed - so it is possible

Mind you, you have to be VERY persuasive and persistent

I agree entirely.

I bought 4 kitchens from them over the last year (property development).

I always go there when they have their biggest discount sale (usually 50% +
20% for a limited period), and manage to negotiate at least an extra 10-15%
on top. I am certain that this has nothing to do with my volume, as I have
done so from my first purchase.

Simply have a figure in mind, get as much of a discount as possible from the
salesperson, and then ask to speak to the manager, and get the rest from
them. Works every time.

Wouldn't do it to a small shop, but as far as these guys are concerned - I
would much rather have my money in my own pocket, then in theirs...

My 2p worth.