Shopping for major discounts at Dell (how-to)

Colin Dunstan · 08-02-2005, 09:12 AM

Note: We received a note today by Dell's legal department demanding Mobileread remove all references related to their sales techniques. The note suggested that this post contained proprietary Dell business information and violated the company's trade secret rights and copyrights. Although we strongely believe that we didn't reveal any secret knowledge and only made information available found elsewhere on the Web, we decided to remove this content until further investigation.

This is not the first time Mobileread receiving a "chilling effect" letter. Last time Microsoft contacted us demanding the removal of some brief information about Windows Mobile 5.0, along with a link to an item at Neowin.net.

We're a small site that heavily depends on user support, and we realize that this was a popular post. Thanks for your understanding while we address this issue.

If you think you always get the best deals online you are very mistaken. I stumbled over a Slickdeals post today where a user describes how you can convince any Dell representative to give you 20-30% discounts off from the best prices you find on the Web. Some folks who already had the knowledge are not be too amused about this news spreading the Net because it could quickly force to Dell to change its sales tactics.

Unregistered · 08-15-2005, 08:10 PM

question...each time i call they first ask for phone number and name. if i don't get the deal i'm looking for, won't they keep a log of my calls and any deals/discounts that were already offered?

Colin Dunstan · 08-16-2005, 02:40 AM

Probably they do. But that's not a big deal as why should the sales person care how many times you received a discount in the past. I also ordered with Dell Small Business once and it worked very well. Guy was from India, very friendly, trying to sell me more than I needed, we talked about my job for a bit, and that was it. Next day another guy from Dell called, he was from the US, to verify my order. Three days later I had my order in the mail. They never called me again or bothered me with marketing questions. So it's seems rather save to share your phone and name with them.

Busker · 08-16-2005, 02:21 PM

2005FPW and 2405FPW will apply to any desktop or laptop?

Unregistered · 08-16-2005, 02:42 PM

It depends on if they build a "quote" for you. They can price items out without storing it in the system, but if they save the quote (and I regularly did so that I could keep track of everything the customer was looking at) there's going to be a record of you calling in often. (Until the quotes expire...usually around a month.) If the rep you're talking to sees a lot of recent quotes under your customer number, they're not going to take you very seriously, and aren't likely to waste their time with you. If there is any place where the adage "Time is money" is true, it's at Dell.

I was on the systems side, and it works a little different than it does for the S&P people. During the time I was at Dell, S&P was a huge push, so the higher-ups gave us more margin dollars on S&P. One important thing to understand when you're pushing for a deal is that Dell pays commission based on MARGIN dollars, not on the total sale. If you're calling in for that $399 computer, the sales rep is making NO money. It's even possible they're LOSING money, besides the fact that they're wasting time on a call with little to no upside.

Push for a deal on higher-end systems, but forget about it on the cheap systems. For goodness sake, a $399 computer is cheap, no matter how you look at it.

And by the way, Dell is a sweatshop. If you're not an exec, you're a peon. I was regularly at the top of the "stacks," but they'd just keep raising the bar to keep top performers from getting paid like it. Finally, when they overlooked me for another job because I was "overqualified"--even though they told me I was the best candidate they talked to--I said "Hasta."

Unregistered · 08-16-2005, 02:59 PM

I just gave it the old college try, as I have been wanting a 2001/2405fpw for awhile now. I spoke with a very nice gentleman who could do no more for me on the discount than a $50 rebate for using my DPA. This makes sense, in a way, as I hear shipping times on the 2001 and 2405 are extended, due to heavy discounts recently and a spate of returns on them.

JMTC

Yoshida8b · 08-16-2005, 04:19 PM

mc p pants just tried this and it worked! omg bbq time!

Unregistered · 08-16-2005, 07:16 PM

i want a new battery for my dell laptop, any advice in doing some engineering to get a good deal on a battery.

Unregistered · 08-17-2005, 12:15 AM

Well, I am sure alot of what you are saying is true. I mean there has to be some margin in everything they sell or they would not sell it. Why would the sales reps just call repeat customers and just offer them a discount if they buy a new monitor or just send an email with a discount offer?? It seems to me if I was having problems meeting my quota I would call a recent customer and offer them a big discount for a new printer or monitor, etc.

Hoogan · 08-17-2005, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Why would the sales reps just call repeat customers and just offer them a discount if they buy a new monitor or just send an email with a discount offer??

I think that would be illegal under the term "unsolicited advertisement."

Thank you for making this info public, it did work for me (I ordered two Dell screens yesterday for myself and for my son).

Unregistered · 08-17-2005, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoogan

I think that would be illegal under the term "unsolicited advertisement."

Thank you for making this info public, it did work for me (I ordered two Dell screens yesterday for myself and for my son).

Did you get 30%? Did you say it was for business? More details please!

Unregistered · 08-17-2005, 01:23 PM

They didn't even ask me about business or not. But the sales guy on the phone (from India!) I ended up with was of the small business department. I have to admit, beside the two screens he convinced me to also a PDA with some extras. I think the total savings from the usual Web discounts were around 20-25%.

Bob Russell · 08-17-2005, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

...beside the two screens he convinced me to also a PDA with some extras.

Now you're talking! That's pretty neat. Like when McDonalds asks if you want a shake or some fries with that hamburger. But instead its "How about a PDA with that purchase?!" I like it! (And it's much better for you!

)

Unregistered · 08-17-2005, 02:37 PM

I talked to a guy about replacing several system and CRT’s. He got my information down and was going to get back with me for a quote. I told him that I wanted to do an incremental replacement but intended to buy them within the next 3-4 months. If they do get back to me with a quote I am not obligated do buy them ALL within that time period right? All I want to do is buy 2 2005fpw's. I was telling him that I may want to buy a couple LCD's to try them out.
Thanks

TadW · 08-17-2005, 03:03 PM

OK this sounds perhaps lame but what would be the first Dell number I'd have to call in order to get to one of the responsible Dell reps?

08-02-2005, 09:12 AM	#1
Colin Dunstan Is papyrophobic! Posts: 1,926 Karma: 1009999 Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: USA Device: Dell Axim	Shopping for major discounts at Dell (how-to) Note: We received a note today by Dell's legal department demanding Mobileread remove all references related to their sales techniques. The note suggested that this post contained proprietary Dell business information and violated the company's trade secret rights and copyrights. Although we strongely believe that we didn't reveal any secret knowledge and only made information available found elsewhere on the Web, we decided to remove this content until further investigation. This is not the first time Mobileread receiving a "chilling effect" letter. Last time Microsoft contacted us demanding the removal of some brief information about Windows Mobile 5.0, along with a link to an item at Neowin.net. We're a small site that heavily depends on user support, and we realize that this was a popular post. Thanks for your understanding while we address this issue. If you think you always get the best deals online you are very mistaken. I stumbled over a Slickdeals post today where a user describes how you can convince any Dell representative to give you 20-30% discounts off from the best prices you find on the Web. Some folks who already had the knowledge are not be too amused about this news spreading the Net because it could quickly force to Dell to change its sales tactics.

08-16-2005, 02:21 PM	#4
Busker Nameless Being	Shopping for major discounts at Dell (how-to) 2005FPW and 2405FPW will apply to any desktop or laptop?

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08-15-2005, 08:10 PM	#2
Unregistered Nameless Being	question...each time i call they first ask for phone number and name. if i don't get the deal i'm looking for, won't they keep a log of my calls and any deals/discounts that were already offered?

08-16-2005, 02:40 AM	#3
Colin Dunstan Is papyrophobic! Posts: 1,926 Karma: 1009999 Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: USA Device: Dell Axim	Probably they do. But that's not a big deal as why should the sales person care how many times you received a discount in the past. I also ordered with Dell Small Business once and it worked very well. Guy was from India, very friendly, trying to sell me more than I needed, we talked about my job for a bit, and that was it. Next day another guy from Dell called, he was from the US, to verify my order. Three days later I had my order in the mail. They never called me again or bothered me with marketing questions. So it's seems rather save to share your phone and name with them.

08-16-2005, 02:42 PM	#5
Unregistered Nameless Being	It depends on if they build a "quote" for you. They can price items out without storing it in the system, but if they save the quote (and I regularly did so that I could keep track of everything the customer was looking at) there's going to be a record of you calling in often. (Until the quotes expire...usually around a month.) If the rep you're talking to sees a lot of recent quotes under your customer number, they're not going to take you very seriously, and aren't likely to waste their time with you. If there is any place where the adage "Time is money" is true, it's at Dell. I was on the systems side, and it works a little different than it does for the S&P people. During the time I was at Dell, S&P was a huge push, so the higher-ups gave us more margin dollars on S&P. One important thing to understand when you're pushing for a deal is that Dell pays commission based on MARGIN dollars, not on the total sale. If you're calling in for that $399 computer, the sales rep is making NO money. It's even possible they're LOSING money, besides the fact that they're wasting time on a call with little to no upside. Push for a deal on higher-end systems, but forget about it on the cheap systems. For goodness sake, a $399 computer is cheap, no matter how you look at it. And by the way, Dell is a sweatshop. If you're not an exec, you're a peon. I was regularly at the top of the "stacks," but they'd just keep raising the bar to keep top performers from getting paid like it. Finally, when they overlooked me for another job because I was "overqualified"--even though they told me I was the best candidate they talked to--I said "Hasta."

08-16-2005, 02:59 PM	#6
Unregistered Nameless Being	I just gave it the old college try, as I have been wanting a 2001/2405fpw for awhile now. I spoke with a very nice gentleman who could do no more for me on the discount than a $50 rebate for using my DPA. This makes sense, in a way, as I hear shipping times on the 2001 and 2405 are extended, due to heavy discounts recently and a spate of returns on them. JMTC

08-16-2005, 04:19 PM	#7
Yoshida8b Nameless Being	mc p pants just tried this and it worked! omg bbq time!

08-16-2005, 07:16 PM	#8
Unregistered Nameless Being	i want a new battery for my dell laptop, any advice in doing some engineering to get a good deal on a battery.

08-17-2005, 12:15 AM	#9
Unregistered Nameless Being	Well, I am sure alot of what you are saying is true. I mean there has to be some margin in everything they sell or they would not sell it. Why would the sales reps just call repeat customers and just offer them a discount if they buy a new monitor or just send an email with a discount offer?? It seems to me if I was having problems meeting my quota I would call a recent customer and offer them a big discount for a new printer or monitor, etc.

08-17-2005, 01:23 PM	#12
Unregistered Nameless Being	They didn't even ask me about business or not. But the sales guy on the phone (from India!) I ended up with was of the small business department. I have to admit, beside the two screens he convinced me to also a PDA with some extras. I think the total savings from the usual Web discounts were around 20-25%.

08-17-2005, 02:37 PM	#14
Unregistered Nameless Being	I talked to a guy about replacing several system and CRT’s. He got my information down and was going to get back with me for a quote. I told him that I wanted to do an incremental replacement but intended to buy them within the next 3-4 months. If they do get back to me with a quote I am not obligated do buy them ALL within that time period right? All I want to do is buy 2 2005fpw's. I was telling him that I may want to buy a couple LCD's to try them out. Thanks

08-17-2005, 03:03 PM	#15
TadW Uebermensch Posts: 2,583 Karma: 1094606 Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Italy Device: Kindle	OK this sounds perhaps lame but what would be the first Dell number I'd have to call in order to get to one of the responsible Dell reps?

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