muppetmovie

If, and when, we ever have our application processed and we make it to the land of the moose, how much discount do you think one can one cheekily try to get on larger items if paying by cash?

By larger items I mean a new car and even the house. Possibly buying all the white goods in the one store too might elicit a bit of moneysaving. Probably aiming to spend about $60K on the car (have just been salivating over the Volvo S80 again) and about $400K - $450K on the house.

I know it's probably as much as we want to stand there and haggle for things but has anyone any knowledge or first hand experience of doing this? How receptive and open to a bit of a discount for cash are Canadians or do they expect the price on the ticket to be the final offer?

R I C H

Muppet (no irony intended )

If you pay cash, don't expect any reciept or record of the transaction, therefore no warranty or come-back.

How's anyone (an individual, department store, car dealer etc) going to 'hide' the sort of lump sums of cash you're talking about?

I've done some cash deals, but they're for far, far smaller amounts - hundreds of $'s for some contract labour, or a few building materials.

Sears would have just laughed when I ordered all my white goods for the new house, if I'd waved $ bills at them and expected a discount. That's not to say that negotiation over price isn't uncommon - just don't expect cash to be the best bartering tool.

MB-Realtor

If you are paying for large items in cash, you are very quickly going to be visited by large hairy men with guns, who will assume you are either a terrorist or a drug dealer, more than likely both.

I know that in the House Buying business cash transactions above a certain dollar value (that keeps getting smaller) HAVE to be reported to the federal gov.

You will of course have the opportunity to prove your innocence, which you will have to do as you will be assumed to be guilty. Its pretty much the same now all over the western world.

You certainly would'nt get a discount on a house if you paid in cash, maybe in Russia, but not Canada. In fact its normally more trouble to deal in Cash than cheques, personally I would charge extra for Cash these days.

wizzard

However with a car purchase you could loosen the definition of 'paying in cash' to be paying in full as opposed to opting for a lease or financing. In that situation you will probably be able to negotiate a better price for buying the car outright than the final cost when taking a lease or financing. I read one car buying guide that said you could save more through price negotiation on an outright buy than you would save even on a 0% financing purchase.

R I C H

If you know you've cash to buy outright and there's 0% on offer, haggle hard then leave some/all of your cash invested elsewhere and take the finance. Why invest your money in a depreciating asset, when it could be earning interest elsewhere?

I took a 3yr lease out on an ex demo F150. Negotiated the price first, then discussed financing options. The truck had under 5,000kms on the clock and listed at a fraction under $60k. I paid $48k. 0% lease was a no-brainer - left my $20k deposit in the bank and just set up monthly payments instead.

muppetmovie

No one said anything about 'hiding' such lump sums of cash Doesn't that say more about you than the person with the lump sum?

Of course one would expect a receipt. Apologies for not making it more clear and saying I mean paying in full as opposed to opting for a lease or financing.

In the case of the white goods do most people buy on hire purchase thereby paying more in the long run for the goods? I was brought up with the mindset to buy what I could afford by saving hard. Whether it's cash or credit card I am amazed that if I was going to spend $10K on all my white goods and electrical equipment that I couldn't get a bit of a discount.

Thankfully Canadians love my Irish accent and don't assume I'm a terrorist. Most of them think I'm Scottish

R I C H

I run a business, some of my clients want to pay me cash each month to avoid the GST. Should I agree, I have to decide what I can do with the cash - can't introduce it to the business, otherwise I end up being the one having to pay the GST, which reduces my profit margin. I'd certainly not give them a receipt or leave a paper trail either. That's not to say 'some' cash isn't potentially useful. Alledgedly. Perhaps.

Don't know what 'most people do to pay for stuff like white goods - personally I use my credit card, collect the air miles, and pay off the balance the next statement day. Certainly shopping for large volumes of items (like white goods), there are good deals to be had using one supplier. I saved over $3k in discounts by using Sears for all our purchases - meant several trips and some hard haggling between them and Future Shop.

MB-Realtor

I've found the way to the best deal is to shop around including the internet, get the best price, then goto the store that offered the best service, and if they are not the cheapest, give them the opportunity to beat or at least match the cheapest price.

Hopefully that way I get the best service and the best price. Then pay with a credit card to earn miles, pay off said card each month with all that loverly cash which is in a "high" interest account at the bank.

Novocastrian

Ha! How times change.

The whole idea of a discount for cash is rooted in avoidance of some tax or other. You're much more likely to get a discount for "white goods", cars etc, by using a branded credit card.

(which of course you pay off immediately).