Negotiate good price

Hi All,
So most recently I ran into a situation where I ended up selling off my Dynaudio Excites for all new Evokes. It started because I bought one of the last pairs of X44's (I had the X38's) in black satin via Ebay. I got a call from the dealer (who happened to only be 1 state over from me - drivable distance). He made a mistake and he had the 44's in Rosewood not black. He offered an even deeper discount but I told him I was the OCD type and cannot have mixed colors as the rest of my Excites were black satin. He then said "well have you listened to Evoke"? Told him I wasn't interested at all. He mentioned he could give me a "nice little discount on Evoke 50's" in black now my set matches. Except with the OCD thing I can't mix lines either. He laughed and said he understood "even though they'd all be matched timbre wise" and it's not like they'd sound different. I said no but thank you because then if I went with the Evokes I'd have to sell all my Excites and get an all new 5 channel Evoke setup. He then asked where I was and when I told him, he said if I'd like to take a ride down, listen to Evoke (because he was sure I'd love them after having a great chat about the old Audience line and how the Excites just weren't near what I experienced with my Audience line back in the day), he'd make it "worth my while". I said honestly man it'd have to be pretty ridiculous because the last thing I want to do is pack up, list, ship my 38's, 28C, and 14's. He understood and said "trust me just let me know when you're coming so I can have the Evokes set up and I promise to take great care of you...I grabbed the wife the following Saturday, let him know I was coming. Well low and behold the Evokes blew me away! I cut right to the chase, okay what are we talking "He said how does 25% off the package (50's, 25C, 10's) sound? I was FLOORED of course, that's unheard of! I said "can I think about it"? He hesitated and was like well, we set these up put the package together hoping this would make it work today. Needless to say I was like ya crazy for me to even ask that, I said "f--k it, let's do it"! I thanked him wholeheartedly for his time and generosity, drove around the corner to his WH and drove home giddy as a 6 year old at Christmas! 

One thing I always do BEFORE auditioning is asking about "willingness to work with me". If they won't budge at all, I won't go and waste their time. That's why I always call first and see if they negotiate...

I totally agree with redwood audio's response. Don't feel bad as the salesperson's manager apparently jumped to the conclusion that you were a "no go" and decided to move on.  With sales, salespeople size you up as noted by the person driving Nissan Sentra (cost conscious, efficiency minded) versus the Benz (money to blow, higher income bracket). Not necessarily accurate but people do make assumptions.  Now that your actions have been analyzed by others in the forum, I would do my research prior to the visit and proceed with a mindset that "less is more" meaning don't feel obligated to say more than you need to. Let's say if the equipment you like comes to $10k retail and your budget is $8k, tell the saleperson, then be an active listener.  See what transpires as they may offer less WPC, a different piece etc., and simply mention I do not want to get home and be disappointed as I have my heart set on this exact set up.  They may have alternative solutions such as a gently used piece of equipment taken in on trade that can be discounted so you get more bang for your buck and reach your price point with both new and/or used. A reputable dealer will want your future business and word of mouth advertising helps when people are happy!  I bet once you mentioned Audiogon, they simply concluded you were a bargain sampling new to purchase used and they figured you were wasting their time. Businesses have operational expenses including rent or mortgage which can be very expensive, employee wages, utilities,taxes, insurance, inventory, paving or sealing parking lot, advertising, cleaning, security system fees etc., which is not cheap and my thoughts are they deserve profit for bringing musical joy to our ears and our lives.  And the profit margin is probably not as high as one may think. To me, quality sound is priceless and I will pay for the joy a great system brings to me to enhance my quality of life in this crazy world we live in! Opinions are like buttholes, we all have them and some people are! I'm sure I will be criticized for my opinion but at least we can speak our minds and criticism makes our skin a little tougher which is good! As redwood said there is no need for games. Make it a win-win situation and if you pay $1000 more than you had hoped and keep the system 10 years, your quality of life has been enhanced by $100 per year which is well worth it! Life is too short and you only live once so enjoy!

Totally agree with kingbr! Nothing like the excitement of driving home with a new sound system and "are you willing to work with?" me is a great way to test the waters to see if there is a bit of wiggle room without insulting the dealer! I love it!!

Is trying to outdo/outsmart a salesman (audio, car, house) some sort of a hobby?

If you need to think of tactics to buy, just pick cheaper items you can afford. You will save time and money. And time is money so you will save money and money. Which is much more than just money which you were trying to save by playing this game for those who value their time as if they have unlimited supply of it.