When is the Best Time to Buy New Carpet and How to Negotiate Your Best Carpet Deal? (Page 2 )
Best and Worst Month To Buy Carpet?
Does it really matter WHEN you buy new Carpet? Absolutely! To maximize your savings, it’s essential that you plan your strategy and learn how to make wise and informed choices. Understanding when & where to shop for carpet is the first step you need to take in negotiating a nice discount on new carpet for your home. (Page Two)
When is the Best Time to Buy New Carpet?
The 3 Best Times to Buy New Carpet?
Now you know when NOT to buy carpet if you want to negotiate your best deal. Let’s look at the three top “money-saving” opportunities so you know WHEN you stand the best chance of negotiating your BEST deal on new carpet and flooring for your home.
1. December 15 thru January 10th.
Once December 15th rolls around, the Christmas trees are going up and holiday shopping is on high. This means that buying after December 15th is a great time to buy new carpet. Fewer people are planning to buy new carpet during this time because of the Christmas holiday. Once the tree goes up, carpet sales go down. Negotiate your best deal after December 15th and have your new carpet installed prior to January 31st.
Personally I would try to negotiate my best deal before January 10th. That’s when most dealers will be feeling the pinch most and their installers will be begging for more work too. By Feb 1st it’s all done and over, as the tax refunds are starting to roll in. People who file their tax returns early know how much their refund will be and that’s when carpet shopping goes into full swing.
2. May 1st to June 30th
The tax refund is spent, Memorial Day weekend is busy, the kids are getting out of school soon, vacation planning is underway and there is plenty of springtime gardening to do. Buying new carpet is not at the top of the priority list for most people during this time.
This makes it a great time for you to negotiate a great carpet deal. I suggest shopping from May 20th through June 10th for the best negotiating power.
3. Throughout September
The next best time to buy carpet comes right after the kids go back to school and lasts thru the whole month of September.
The last two weeks of August are busy, everyone is getting ready for the new school year, enjoying the last few weeks of hot summer weather, and getting ready for the autumn leaves to fall. This is a great time to shop for carpet.
No one wants to think about getting ready for the holidays until after Halloween. So late August thru September is a great time to negotiate a great deal on new carpet for your home.
I suggest shopping early in September and plan to have your new carpet installed by October 15th because once people start thinking about the holidays people will be lined up to have new carpet before their holiday guests arrive.
How to Negotiate Your Best Carpet Deal
Knowing the best time to buy new carpet is important, but knowing how to negotiate a great deal is also important. You can’t just walk into a carpet retailer and ask for 20% off carpet because you know it’s their slow season. You have to endure their Sales pitch before you can start asking for a discount.
What game? You must allow them to go through their entire sales process with you completely. Let them show you dozens of carpet samples you may like, allow them to come and measure up all the rooms of your home. Let them prepare a free measure and proposal. Then you will have a starting point that reveals exactly how much material they think your project requires; how much the installation will be including any extra fees & charges; and how much everything is going to cost you from start to finish.
IMPORTANT: Be sure to ask for a detailed list of everything you will receive. Have them show separate prices for the carpet, the pad and installation fees and extra charges. You should not accept a one-price for everything deal. You need to know exactly how much everything costs separately. Use my free Carpet Shopping Form to help keep track of your purchase details.
Q. I already know exactly how much material I need and the carpet I want, so why do I have to suffer through their Sales pitch just to ask for a discount?
If your goal is to get the carpet of your dreams for the best price possible, you will need to negotiate to get them to come down on the price. In order for this plan to work, the salesperson needs to invest some serious time and energy getting to know you and your needs & goals.
This involves asking you lots of carpet questions, helping you find the perfect carpet, playing with your dog & cat, measuring up all the areas in your home and preparing a detailed proposal. After doing all this, they will have some skin in the game as they say. After spending several hours getting to know you and your pets, they won’t want to lose the sale because the carpet store down the street offers you a better deal. This gives you some negotiating power!
Don’t expect to negotiate with Lowe’s or Home Depot. The clerk hanging around the carpet & flooring department is not authorized to offer you any sort of discount.
Empire Today is known for presenting sky-high proposals and then calling back in a day or two with a significantly lower price. The problem is that the new discounted price they offer is still way over-priced. Not only that, but they tend to push carpets made of Polyester. If you don’t know why polyester carpets should be avoided, please take a few minutes to learn about carpet fibers before purchasing any carpet made from polyester or PET polyester.
You want to buy from a reputable, locally-owned carpet dealer who is willing to negotiate with you. Visit my Preferred Carpet Dealer Directory to see who I recommend near you.
Are You Getting The Best Carpet Deal Possible?
Negotiating a good deal on carpet doesn’t start the moment you begin shopping for carpet, it starts after you have found the perfect carpet, at a price you can afford. You have had them come to your home to measure and they have given you a free bid / estimate to do the entire job, including the carpet, the padding and the installation with all the extras.
Now you have the total amount they want to do the entire job right in front of you. Now is when they want you to say yes and accept their bid. But before you agree to their deal or sign on the bottom line, this is when you should stop, hesitate and say to the salesperson…
“I’m just not sure about this price… it seems a bit high to me. I think I need to consider this a little longer just to make sure I’m making the right decision”
Negotiating a Good Deal on New Carpet Takes Time
Put the pressure on them. Be willing to walk out of the store at any time you feel pressured, or ask the salesperson to leave your home so you can “think about it” for a day or two. The strategy here is to give them a day or two to come up with a better price to save the deal. If they think you are a pushover they may stand firm with their initial proposal. If they think you might be shopping at other stores, they might get a little worried about losing the sale. You want them to be worried.
It’s okay to say you are considering getting bids from another local dealer, but never tell them what dealer you are talking about. It’s none of their business. If you gave them a store name, they would just give you 5 reasons why you shouldn’t buy from that other store. Never give away information they can use to manipulate you or use as ammunition to try to overcome your objections and concerns.
When they ask you “What is preventing you from accepting this deal from us today?” Never give them a reason why you are not agreeing to buy from them right now! If you do, they will keep trying to overcome your objections one by one and ask you to buy again. They want to wear you down. If you feel like you must say something to get them to back off, tell them you need a day or two to pray about it.
Be Patient
You must be patient if you want them to give you a better deal. Getting 15% off the whole deal would be nice but may not be realistic. Some stores have higher overhead than others. You must be patient because they want and need your business more than you need them. After a day or two, the salesperson is probably pleading his boss to offer you a lower price to help save the deal. Don’t call them. Don’t worry, they will call.
Give Store #1 a Chance to Beat Store #2’s Price.
Let’s say store #1 does not call you back after three days to offer you a better deal. You still have the option of either accepting their first proposal or you could visit another local carpet dealer (store #2) to see if they will give lower price on the exact same carpet, pad and installation with all the extras. Everything must be the same. The same carpet, pad and install with all the extras.
Odds are good that store #2 will give you a lower price because they don’t have any skin in the game. Just be sure to have them to give you a written proposal just like the first one.
Now you can call the first store and say “The store over here is $300 less (whatever) than your price for the exact same deal. Should I take that deal or are you willing to beat their price? Will this negotiating tactic work for you? Maybe it will. If you have the time, consider moving on to store #3 and see if they want your business!
Be Flexible and Reasonable
If you are just replacing the carpet in a small room or two, don’t expect to get a huge discount. They are not going to give it all away without making some profit. If you are doing your whole house, then you should expect a reasonable discount. You must decide if their final offer is acceptable to you. Still, you can always give them a counter offer!
Will you accept a 5% discount? Don’t be afraid to ask for a bigger discount than they initially offer. If they say 5%, try countering for 20% off the entire deal. Maybe they will come back and offer you 10% off the materials? You say… ?
A Word To The Wise!
Since you are asking for significant discount on your project, you must refrain from imposing any additional constraints or stipulations. Your job needs to be viewed as easy and straightforward with no problems or complications.
Nobody likes last-minute changes to the project, so make sure all your choices and decisions are completely settled so the dealer and installation crew can complete your project without any changes to the project.
Be flexible and accommodating; allow them to complete the job at a time most convenient for them. Make sure your home is prepared in advance (Installation Get-Ready Checklist) when the installers arrive. It’s appropriate to give the lead installer a cash tip when they are finished and you are satisfied with the job.
Keep in mind that your primary objective is to get the lowest price for the carpet you intend to purchase. You must be willing to accept few minor concessions to achieve that goal.
Choosing New Carpet Wisely
Regardless of how much of a discount you can negotiate, it won’t be worth anything if you choose the wrong carpet and pad or if you don’t get it installed properly. So you have to do your carpet homework long before you begin negotiating on the final price. My List of Free Carpet Articles
What Grade Of Carpet Should I Select?
What grade of carpet is capable of meeting all your needs and goals? What type of pad is correct for the carpet quality and style you have selected?
Start by taking my free Carpet Foot-Traffic Test to see where you stand. In just 5 minutes or less you will discover what grade of carpet can tolerate the level of foot-traffic you have in your home.
Don’t Skimp on Pad! You want a good quality padding but you don’t need to pay a fortune to get it. Beware of costly padding upgrade scams! Some salespeople will try to convince you to upgrade your padding and get enhanced carpet warranty coverage. Learn all about the various types of carpet padding you should consider and find out which padding upgrades you should avoid.
Q. Which of all these Carpet samples is most durable? It’s impossible to tell for sure just by looking at them or feeling the samples with your hand. Use my free Carpet Durability Guide Chart to compare carpet samples side-by-side. This chart is super helpful when trying to narrow down your final carpet choices using known manufacturing specifications.
Visit my Carpet Professor website where you will discover more “money saving” tips, tricks and insider secrets. Learn how to choose new carpet wisely, save money and avoid common carpet sales scams & rip-offs!
It’s getting harder to find honest and reputable carpet stores these days! That’s why I created my own special hand-picked list of locally-owned carpet and flooring stores. They give free estimates, offer fair prices, have knowledgeable staff, provide honest measuring and use qualified installers. Are there any Recommended Carpet Stores Near Me?