Credit goes to Elipsn. Thanks for the inside info!
I no longer work for Dell, I quit my job there, but I worked in Nashville in the S&P Small business division - And boy oh boy do you guys have a lot to learn Later tonight, I'm going to make a very long post with a ton of inside info - I have intentions of teaching all of you the truth about Dell, how their coupon system and rebates work, and how to beat their system.
Heres a hint at the goodness to come, some of you may have known this from personal experience, but its time this gets out in the open....
When you call Dell - You can get amazing deals, Never buy online, always call in...........The 2005FPW deal? Hehe, the deal is not dead guys, it never will be....Coupons? Ha! its all BS, coupons don't matter at all. Can you say 2405FPW for around $671.44? Shipped, of course. What about a 2005FPW for $342.51, once again, shipped.....and what if I were to tell you, you can get that deal, all day long, anyday of the week
Oh yeah, and heres the real kicker....what if I told you, 20 to 30% off of the best price you can find on dells website for almost anything? And yes, that includes the Geforce 7800GTX Can you say $400? Hehe
Hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen, I'm about to blow one bigass whistle....
UPDATE -
Sorry this is taking so long guys, Those of you who assume this is a YMMV post, as well as a "hope you get a good rep, they'll give you a good deal" are slightly correct, but there is a lot more to it than that, I'm going to try and explain it in more detail later, its a long write up, and I don't want to spread any misinformation....And, I don't consider this information "secret" except that I have the real inside info, I was there; when you called in to order a 2405fpw, You were talking to me, or one of my coworkers, I know how it works, and I'm going to explain how to get the best deal out of me (Dell) you could imagine...
Heres some more basic info
1. Dell branded items have a built in 20 to 30% markup from the best price you can find on dells website, what does that mean? To expand on this, if a 2405fpw has a msrp of $1199, and you can buy it online for 959.20, you can buy it over the phone for 20% less than that at a minimum, maybe even 30%, the amount of a discount a rep can give past the online advertised price depends and fluctuates daily - it will always be at least 20% - The only catch is convincing the rep on the other end of the phone to give this to you, they can do it, they have the authority, and if they tell you they can't, they are lies.
2. Dell reps are required to sell a certain amount of sh@t everyday, or they get fired. Its measured in a system known as "stacks", basically, its a commission system. Everyone knows this - What they don't know, is how to use social engineering to play this on your behalf - This is where the good stuff is at, more to come soon
The big update you have all been waiting for -
Alright, I’m going to make good on what I promised earlier.
Here is the deal:
In order to explain how to get the best deal from Dell, you must take into consideration six main points.
1. Social engineering is required for this to work
2. A Dell Rep must sell a certain amount of stuff per day in order to meet their quota – otherwise they get fired.
3. A Dell rep has the ability, and authority, to discount items above and beyond the website price.
4. Dell reps are paid on a salary structure, plus commission. This is the most important factor, because you will use this information to get the best deal.
5. Dell branded items have what is called “inflated margin”. This means a Dell rep can sell you a 2005fpw at cost, because he still benefits from the sell of the item, some will be reluctant to do this – Margin (the amount of money Dell makes from a sell) is one of the ways the performance of a Dell rep is measured, However, if you find a rep that won’t give you your best deal, hang up, and call back in, it might take a few try’s, but it can save you hundreds…..
6. Non-Dell Branded items don’t have nearly as much “margin” built into the price, but some do, some items like video cards, have HUGE margins, meaning reps can discount Geforce 7800GTX’s 20% all day long, and still have positive margin for the sell………..this isn’t true of every non-Dell item, some have hardly any margin at all, and reps can’t do much on the price front…
In order to convince a Dell rep to give you that incredible deal, you need to make it worth his/her time. The way you do this, is express you interest in items that you have no intention of buying; this leads the Dell rep to believe that if he gives you a good deal now, you might buy a big item later, which will help him/her to meet their quota. (This isn’t the only way to go about getting the rep to give you his/her best deal, but it worked for me, if someone told me they were going to buy plasma, I had no problem selling them a monitor at base price – The Basic idea is get on the reps good side, make him laugh, tell a joke, whatever floats your boat –These people live very boring lives in there tiny cubicles, trust me, it gets real boring sometimes……)
Dell has two main divisions, with hundreds of sub divisions, the two primary divisions are of course Dell Home, and Dell Small Business. Dell S&P (Software and peripherals) has a lot more flexibility in their pricing structure, as a general rule of thumb, try and deal with them; they can get you the best deal.
It does not matter if you don’t own a company, tell them you do, they don’t validate any company info you give them. Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT tell them this will be for personal use. They will transfer you. Business use only.
It’s important to remember that the amount of a discount that a rep can give you does vary day by day, with new pricing matrix information coming out every Thursday, meaning, last week if they could only do 10%, they may be able to do 20% now, it just depends….I’ve still got friends at Dell, I’m going to try and provide the with inside pricing structure every week, maybe we can get a sticky going for that with limited user access for the so the whole enthusiast community doesn’t see it? Tomorrow I will provide the with solid numbers on specific items, and the BEST deal that can be had, that way you can call in, and if the rep won’t sell it to you at that price, you know you can do better, so you can hang-up and try again.
Here are some real world price points to give you an example of what a Dell representative is capable of doing as far as discounts go, these prices do not include tax, which depends on your location, so it varies. I never got to see Dells true cost, but I assure you, it’s sick how much money they make off of Dell branded items, especially when poor bastards buy Dell’s stuff off of their website.
2405FPW – MSRP $1199, Online 959.20, 20% Rep Discount $767.36, 30% Rep Discount $671.44
2005FPW – MSRP $699, Online 489.30, 20% Rep Discount $391.44, 30% Rep Discount $342.51
Dell 42” Plasma W4200 – MSRP $2999, Online $2699, 20% Rep Discount $2159.20
Three weeks ago, the pricing matrix (The “Guidelines” a Dell rep has to work with when issuing a discount) allowed us to go to 30% on a number of items, including the 2005fpw and 2405fpw. The week before I quit, we could only go to 20% on the same things. In other words, it does vary when a Rep can give discounts – But that is in no way associated to coupons or discount codes.
It’s also important to know that coupon codes, and discounts won’t work in
conjunction with any of the tactics I’ve discussed here, In order to get a rep to sell you stuff at his/her discount prices, he has got to maintain a positive margin, meaning, Dell MUST make something from the sell, even if its only a few dollars off of that 2405, they still made a few bucks from the sell.
Whew – I hope that gives you all a general idea of what’s going on, there is a LOT more to discuss, and I’ll be updating this thread with new info from time to time, look for big updates over the next few days, but for right now I’m tired of typing…..any questions?
Oh, and one more thing – When you call in, be nice, even if the rep won’t give you that deal. I’ve had to deal with so many @$$holes it’s pathetic – and make sure you validate the item number you’re buying; most of the reps don’t know what the hell they are talking about….
