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Salvage Yard Etiquette

S

steve terplak

Member
Went to Macfaddens salvage yard (upstate NY)yesterday to get a piece of sheet metal for my massey 1080...
same as every other time i have been there, they had exactly what i needed...
was talking to the guy (not jim) as he pulled the part, said they figured there were around 3500 tractors in their salvage area...

so, here is my question
when you are quoted a price at a scrap/salvage yard...usually for something that is no longer made, even in reproduction...is it expected for you to try to haggle over it...or is the price set in stone?

i am not one to haggle...just not my style...just thought i'd see what you guys thought.
 
I kinda think the price set is what you pay. I absolutely despise haggling about prices. I always feel jipped and end up grumpy and regretful the rest of the day. I'd rather pay their price and get the part before somebody else does.
 
TRY SELLING A TRACTOR TO A SALVAGEYARD,you quikly find out they'll try to chew you down to given it to them.
I haggle every chance i get,even on new stuff/parts/whatever.

Price is man made,not cast in stone.

As a farmer i get told "take it or leave it" for what i have to sell all the time too.
 
there use to be a salvage yard here in Va. that if you haggled the price the old man would lay the part back in the yard and wouldn't sell it to you . I never tried to haggle a price with him . wish he was still there.
 
i'm with you
if i like the price i buy it...if i don't then i don't...
i'd hate to waste time haggling over a couple dollars just to feel more like i got a "deal"
it bugs me when i see stuff over-priced because they assume people will want them to come down...
if people just priced stuff at where they wanted to sell it, life would be easier.
if i sell something my price is always "firm" but people don't seem to understand what that means.
 
usually, if i'm hunting for a 'can't-be-found' part, and I do luck up and find one, and i'm only buying a single thig.. I generally go with asking price if I feel it is reasonable.

Now.. if I am buying multiple parts, or am contemplating buying multiple parts, I don't feel bad asking if there is any discount available for volume / quantity.

All they can do is say no. I ask politely and have almost always been politely answered.

more often than not if buying multiple things you usually get some sort of discount, even if it is only on combined shipping. or someties and extra thrown in.

can't hurt to ask..

if I'm buying a used part that is available from 2sources, and I frequent one more often, but the part is a lil mor ethere, I will usually make that known that 'x' down the road has it 10$ cheaper, care to match it? or even meet half way?

again.. politeness usually goes along way and all they can do is say no.

on the other hand.. I sometimes don't mind paying a few more percent to a source that has helped me out in the past.. IE.. keep yer business with who takes care of you.. etc.

good luck


ps.. I'm just envious that you have such a nice salvage yard close. we had a big one here that closed 9ys ago...

soundguy
 
macfadden's is something else...it is nice just to wander their lot and look down the rows...i don't know if there is anything you can't find there...
also puts on a good auction....in my opinion...others may differ though
 
Most places I have been to are pretty set on their prices. Only one place I have been recently will negotiate IF the said part was not up to the condition described on the phone. There used to be a fellow (he has long since past) that would throw you off his yard if you even hinted you wanted to negotiate. If you have an inherent charm about you it may be worth a try.
I know "Uncle" Bill Knapp over in Livonia, NY has mentioned on here before and I still say it was worth the trip to his place just to talk to the guy.
 
Never been to a yard where the price was negotiable; locally, price is usually half of new. Needed a screen for an L2 a few years ago; dealer could order it for $xxxx, but it was gonna be a few days getting it. Knew the salvage yard about 15 miles away had some Ls on the lot, so checked with them. Counter persons couldn't make any decisions; everything had to come from owner in back room. They had a couple of the screens; fellow went in back to ask price. $xxxx.......same price as new one. I'd been dealing with them for years.....buying at half price. Told the counter guy; he went in back again; came back and said price is right; do you want it? NOPE! Called the dealer and asked him to get it as quickly as he could.

Yard owner was known to be a scumbag. He wouldn't give your money back, but would guarantee part to work. I bought a couple of hydraulic pumps from him; they'd try to sell one 'off the shelf'; Nope, take one off a tractor. Went to school with one of the counter guys; he told me they sold the same auto-transmission 7 times; customer would install it, it wouldn't work; they'd bring it back and get another one; salvage yard would put it back on the shelf. For some reason, the 7th customer kept it.........
 
walked though bills yard many times,it was a fine line between too early in the spring, gound was soggy,too late in summer you could barely see the tractors though the under growth. still smile when I think about his space capsule. bill m.
 
You got that right....If you want to sell a salvage combine or tractor to a yard,they will try and steal it from you...However,it quickly turns to gold when they part it out..
 
I show up and buy what I'm looking for at the price quoted. If I find out later that I could have found a better deal elsewhere, then I missed out. I figure that there are times as well that I got a better deal than I could have elsewhere too. I don't haggle. If I did haggle though, seems to me that the time to do so would be at the time the price was quoted, not after someone goes and takes the time to dig up the part at the price quoted and then gets blindsided by a schemer looking for somewhere to happen at my expense. I might not get mad if someone pulled that on me, but I would not forget them afterwards if they did. Chances are pretty good that next time I dealt with them, they would have a special price just for them, higher than I wanted in anticipation of them wanting to play a chess game on my time with me. I may not get mad at them, but I wouldn’t forget them or their ways, and I wouldn’t recommend them as a customer to anyone I did business with. I may not talk them down, but its highly doubtful that I would recommend or speak positively of them either.

Mark
 
Ive been to Mcfaddens several times. You can haggle somewhat. Depending on the part (usually mine were around $50 or somewhere around there, they will usually haggle to around 5-10$ difference. But they usually check their books for what the part originally was/ what a new one is and go from there.

Mcfaddens has always treated me right. I can spend a who day there walking around.
 
Here's what I do at Mac's - ask if that's the best price he can do on a particular part and then I will make him an offer on other parts to go with it and I always feel I am getting a fair deal that way. So usually when I go up, I take a list.
 
The placewhere I go you ask him a price then go get the part then bring the part back and ask him how much for something else. Usually he says 10 bucks or ooo since you bought that I'll just give it to you. Gotta like that
 
I enjoy going to Macfaddens too. I see salvage yards as every one being different. They have no MFG. list price to go by other than 1/2 new but then there are all kinds of shades of condition wear etc. You go to Wengers and the parts are all removed cleaned and inspected and priced accordingly. I wouldn't dream of trying to hagle there. But if you go home and find something wrong like hidden damage they take care of you. Another place that I have dealt with, The fellow has a bad rep so you go in with your eyes wide open and when he asks "will you give.....?" You say "well how about". At MacFaddens I haven't tried to wrangle with Jim, But lets say that I have had "discussions" with Jeff. They are all different, they are not chain stores, so do your homework before going and respond to local conditions.
 
Up thre I usually bring green money.Save the 7% sales tax.Have had some luck bundling also.

Vito
 
Haggling over price is half the fun of buying something. It's a fine art in the far East.
I start out by asking if there is a discount for Seniors. Then for Veterans. Then for disabled, then for just about anything I can think of. Like "llama owner" or something strange.
If no luck there then I go to the old bait and switch. "I'll buy two widgets and a burpee" if you give me 10% off.
Or, so and so is selling them for ________
Or, Now you probably wouldn't respect me in the morning if I left that kind of cash here.
Or, "I learned from my Scottish grandfather that_____"
I watched in amazement one day in HS, when I was working in an upscale clothing store. I sold an expensive suit to a customer, and when I was writing it up he said he would only pay about 75% of that price. I called the store owner over, he made nice with the guy and gave him the 25% discount. That was the LAST day I ever paid the full price of anything anywhere.
The other day I went to a new barbershop. Walked in and asked how much for a haicut. They said $15. I asked how much for a SR, they said $12. I said how much for a veteran SR if I come back on the day you are almost no book. Gal said, "sit down I'll cut your hair for $10. I rest my case.
( oh, and I DID tip her $4)
 
Been there a number of times. He would toss you out for mentioning credit cards too. He would always ask if you were paying cash. He would add on about 30 percent for a check. It always an adventure going there and looking around. He would talk about stuff all day if you stayed around. Hard to imagine what he really made for money on the place.
 
I dont haggle for anything if I like the price I buy it if I dont I just go somewhere else, or do without. I wont put up with someone who wants to haggle for something that I have to sell.
 
I agree with in to deep. "pay the price before somebody else does!" I had a guy come to look at my tractor I had for sale in town by the road. I had $4500 on it and the guy wanted to pay 3900 cash. while he was trying to beat me down on price while I stayed at $4250. Another guy stops and pulled up to look at it while still sitting by the road. I go meet him and the haggeler follows me and bugging!. I talked to the 2nd guy in between the 1st one. 15 mins later the 2nd guy hands over $4250 cash. The 1st guy got mad and said we wasn't done with the deal. I told him many times that $4250 bottom price! He still though he could still get it for 3900. I still see him every once in a while. I say "hey you missed out on a great deal on a tractor when you was short $350!" espically when he is with his freinds!!
 
I wish I had a tractor salvage yard within 100 miles of me............my wife is glad I don't! :lol:
 
I enjoy the negotiation process too...but some people do not. I try really hard to figure out how the other guy feels and respond to their clues. A little like playing poker.

Lots of times I have been able to get a discount buying all sorts of things, mostly big ticket items. I recently bought a new lawn tractor for what amounted to about $300 less than it would have cost if I had paid the price marked on it when I first came into the store. When we have bought new cars, I have usually saved several thousand as compared to the sticker price. My wife says it is embarrassing to go with me car shopping, but she appreciates the fact that we pay less for the vehicle we previously had agreed upon trying to buy. Car salesmen have candidly told me that they think you are stupid if you agree to pay the window sticker price, especially if it has additional dealer profit listed. Of course I don't try to buy anything that is in super short supply or is way popular.

I think haggling is fun and it saves me money. You don't have to be unpleasant while haggling, in fact that might lose you a good deal. It almost never helps to make someone mad at you. It probably would not be a good idea to try to get a discounted price on a part that they have already gone out and removed for you, especially if the business is busy that day.

Would I try to negotiate a lower price on an expensive salvage yard part? Every time! But I might go ahead and pay their price if I really need that part and think it might be hard to find elsewhere. In my experience, most people will come down a little, if they have the authority to set the price. Not all salesmen do, but most managers can.

I guess I don't care much about etiquette, at least when it comes to buying things. Will I try to get them to give me a discount on a can of chili? No, but I might if I was buying a case of chili. And I bet I would get at least some discount!
 
(quoted from post at 14:50:41 06/28/11) TRY SELLING A TRACTOR TO A SALVAGEYARD,you quikly find out they'll try to chew you down to given it to them.
I haggle every chance i get,even on new stuff/parts/whatever.

Price is man made,not cast in stone.

As a farmer i get told "take it or leave it" for what i have to sell all the time too.
Click to expand...

I never pay marked price for stuff at the local farm/fleet......If a private person I haggle or not based on appearance and how bad I want the item.... I don't nickel and dime, usually just ask what is the ablolute lowest pricew they'll take and either pay, leave, or offer a little less depending on appearance and attitude.
 
(quoted from post at 17:51:27 06/28/11) there use to be a salvage yard here in Va. that if you haggled the price the old man would lay the part back in the yard and wouldn't sell it to you . I never tried to haggle a price with him . wish he was still there.
Click to expand...

S A Fitts, have been there myself.
 
Buying and selling are two different things.Most of any profit is made on buying as to be a successful seller you have to have a good product at a reasonable price because if you dont someone else will.Negotiation done in a business way should not offend the seller as Im sure he has seen and heard it all.
 
Haggle or B*tch about the price as the Yard guys call it and they'll add a lot extra next time especially if they know you're in a bind.Either way they'll get the best of the situation as they hold all the cards.Junkyards ain't like Walmart
 
I had a Vietnamese gal as a partner for a bunch of years. We bought and sold several houses together. That woman was constitutionally incapable of paying full price. She would wheedle and and purr and bat her eyelashes or whatever it took to knock a few bucks off the price on ANYTHING she bought. And she almost never paid full price. Sometimes I'd be embarassed, even exasperated but that is how she did it. But she was tough as nails under it all and could play a better game of brinksmanship than anybody.
She taught me a heck of a lot about the art of buying and selling.
I always ask politely if that is the best they can do. Always ask for a discount. The worst they can tell you is no. And if I really need it then I can buy it. If I don't need it I can just walk away.
Likewise when selling I always expect someone is going to try to beat me up on the price. I don't get mad - even at a lowball offer. He's just trying to do what I do.
It's all a game that's fun to play.
 
I never haggle over price. I"m not a likable person anyway and folks usually don"t care to deal with me to start with. If I try to haggle they are like."I don"t have time for this jerk" and I end up paying full price or walking away. I have been buying a few pieces of old farm equipment from the local scrap iron yard. I know that they are over-charging me on all of it, but it"s take it or leave it, so I pay or go. Talking to a neighbor the other day. He"s doing the same thing at the same place. Only difference is, they are GIVING him the stuff he asks for. If it"s a large piece of equipment, say 300 lbs or more he may pay them the scrap price that they gave for it. Funny how life works ain"t it.
 
Gordo............I enjoy most all of your posts, really. But not this one. When I sell something, I've already established what I think is "fair" price. If you'd pull any of these tactics on me, you'd hit the road fast. In fact, I'd RAISE the price on you immediately.
 
LOL. My Korean sister in law is the same way. My brother had been negotiating to sell their business when he became sick and died suddenly.

The fellow that had been negotiating backed away from the deal so my SIL jacked up the price to what she thought it should sell for and quickly sold it for that price.

As like others, I don't haggle. I might want to sell them something and would rather they not haggle with me.
 
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