Newbie On Budget: Costco Or Cal Spa Classic? Or Other?

[Guzz]

Ya that s HUGE difference. You could buy a Tiger river Caspian for that price.

well at that price it makes it an easy transition to aTR Caspian

[Curious]

Hate to chime in, but I'm also in the market for a new spa. So what does a former Hotsprings owner do, he calls his HS salesperson first. Comes to find out that the best mid-size spa HS offers with easy access for children and a nice cool down seat is the Soverign. He quotes me $8-8,500 for a really unexceptional spa. I said good night, crossed HS off my list, and began my quest to explore the competition.

I logged onto the Costco sight and noticed they had the older version of the Soverign for around $5800 complete. A reasonable price for such a spa. Now I'm all for making money, but I must say that I was shocked by the pricing differential for a relatively similar spa. I guess I'm just old fashioned and believe in offering a good product for a good price and Costco appeals to that mentality.

I want to buy from my local dealer and sent a considerable amount of business his way, but felt somewhat insulted by his pricing. I have no idea what the margins are in these products, yet have heard sales commission's can be rather exceptional.

The equation is good product + good price + stand behind your product = satisfied consumers. Costco plays this game well and ofter wins. Sure they don't always have the best product at the best price, but they do give the unsuspecting customer confidence that they are not being taken to the cleaners.

Having said that, I have been fortunate enough to find alternate products/dealers who are willing to be reasonable right out of the gate. They will earn my business and I will continue to use Costco to develop a basis for what a fair deal should be.

[Brulan1]

Hate to chime in, but I'm also in the market for a new spa. So what does a former Hotsprings owner do, he calls his HS salesperson first. Comes to find out that the best mid-size spa HS offers with easy access for children and a nice cool down seat is the Soverign. He quotes me $8-8,500 for a really unexceptional spa. I said good night, crossed HS off my list, and began my quest to explore the competition.

I logged onto the Costco sight and noticed they had the older version of the Soverign for around $5800 complete. A reasonable price for such a spa. Now I'm all for making money, but I must say that I was shocked by the pricing differential for a relatively similar spa. I guess I'm just old fashioned and believe in offering a good product for a good price and Costco appeals to that mentality.

I want to buy from my local dealer and sent a considerable amount of business his way, but felt somewhat insulted by his pricing. I have no idea what the margins are in these products, yet have heard sales commission's can be rather exceptional.

The equation is good product + good price + stand behind your product = satisfied consumers. Costco plays this game well and ofter wins. Sure they don't always have the best product at the best price, but they do give the unsuspecting customer confidence that they are not being taken to the cleaners.

Having said that, I have been fortunate enough to find alternate products/dealers who are willing to be reasonable right out of the gate. They will earn my business and I will continue to use Costco to develop a basis for what a fair deal should be.

for 5800 dollars you are getting an older version, for 8500 you are getting brand new and dont have to worry about service or returning it back to cotsco's out of your pocket. I think the dealer is the way to go despite the catchy price. A margin for a tub is usually 30-40percent for a dealer and cotsco is looking to sell volume and not worry about what happens except to take it back, fix it and re-sell it new for the same price for the most part. Cotsco doesn't care about your problem bringing the tub back or backing it up.

[DecistionTime]

for 5800 dollars you are getting an older version, for 8500 you are getting brand new and dont have to worry about service or returning it back to cotsco's out of your pocket. I think the dealer is the way to go despite the catchy price. A margin for a tub is usually 30-40percent for a dealer and cotsco is looking to sell volume and not worry about what happens except to take it back, fix it and re-sell it new for the same price for the most part. Cotsco doesn't care about your problem bringing the tub back or backing it up.

So the newer version only costs 46.6% more! And the Costco warranty is better? What am I missing?