Is it 'normal' to negotiate on livery rates?

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newhorse

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Is it the done thing to haggle on price? I am looking at DIY livery and the price of one yard is a little more than I intended to pay - how well would negotiation go down?

thanks
 
Usually a price is the price. Can you imagine what would happen if the other liveries found out you were getting a cheaper deal? The YO wouldn't risk it.

On full livery, you could ask to work at the yard during the weekend for negotiated rates. Haggling DIY rates is doubtful.

Good luck :)
 
I wouldnt have thought it would go down very well!
It's not normal to haggle on livery, I suppose unless you're the only person there and you're renting rather than in livery
 
Thought that was the case. Just a thought as someone from an old yard was getting a much different deal. Saying that, the one I am looking at is great and well worth the money.

thanks
 
Nope I dont think so. YO sets the price and everyone pays the same. Perhaps if you were getting additional services ontop of the DIY price then those could be negotiated but its important YOs treat everyone the same so there are no arguements.
 
If you don't ask, you don't get!!! Be prepared for a No! but otherwise there is no harm in asking! Too many people are frightened to ask and why shouldn't you???

I know its against the grain, but its your money. To be fair the only place I don't haggle or ask for some kind of discount is Tesco's, yes my husband or friends die in shame, but now they seem to do the same?
 
iconique said:
To be fair the only place I don't haggle or ask for some kind of discount is Tesco's, yes my husband or friends die in shame, but now they seem to do the same?
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My dear Gran asked 'how much for cash?' when we were in a supermarket some time ago... Apparently back in their day if you had 'cash' you got a better deal. Who Knew!
 
kaylouise67 said:
My dear Gran asked 'how much for cash?' when we were in a supermarket some time ago... Apparently back in their day if you had 'cash' you got a better deal. Who Knew!
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Lol, when we moved here we needed a new fridge and I was treating myself to a dishwasher for the first time. Went to all the places like Currys, Dixons, etc and asked if they'd do a discount because of having the two, plus we'd pay in cash. None of them wanted to know. I went to our local electrical shop just to ask their prices thinking they'd be more expensive (this is long before internet was dreamt of!) and without saying anything at all, they said straight away, if I was to have the two at the same time they'd give me 2.5% off, over £30 which was a lot then! Needless to say, I've used this firm ever since and they have consistently given me far better prices than the big stores do for everything from irons to cookers plus if anything goes wrong they're ready to help; you don't have to jump through hoops to get a result.
 
when i've been looking at yards i ask if they would do a 'discount' for 4 horses, almost all of them have said yes they would so if you do have more than one horse it is worth asking.
 
riding_high said:
when i've been looking at yards i ask if they would do a 'discount' for 4 horses, almost all of them have said yes they would so if you do have more than one horse it is worth asking.
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I too was going to say if you had multiple horses you could possibly strike a deal, but not normally for one!!
 
Don't know if it's normal but there is nothing to stop you - worst that can happen is they say 'no'. I negotiate on everything in life and very rarely don't get money off... If it's only a pound a week you get off that's 52 pounds a year -- worth an ask...

Bx
 
I have no idea if it is normal or not, I have never had anyone ask me for multiple horses.

I do have half a dozen emails/calls/visits a week asking if I'll take a Boarder in return for work, now, if I had a dozen horses in every night then I might consider a free stall...

My prices are full, all in, and non negotiable.

I don't do DIY (that just isn't normal around here) and I don't do discount either, why should I? Say $30 a month, that's approximately one round bale of hay I end up basically giving to you hmmmmmmmm? I already charge a sliding rate depending on size, if you want a discount, get smaller horses. (For 'you' read any Boarder)

My Vet doesn't give me a discount for seeing multiple horses, my Farrier doesn't either, sorry, it just seems a bit of a cheek to even consider it really.

On the other hand, if you don't ask, as people have said, you don't get :D
 
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I am not a YO, but I am a dog groomer. I do sometimes get folk ask me for discounts for multiple dogs or for whatever reason. To be honest, I rarely if ever give discounts...and if I do, it's almost never to those who ask. In my line of work, I find that the ones that ask tend to be the ones that are higher maintenance!

I agree, if other liveries found out that you were getting a deal better than them, it could cause some problems. It's my understanding that keeping liveries isn't a HIGH profit type industry (very much like my own, dog grooming) and therefore there's not much room to haggle. There isn't really any reason to offer a discount.

You might ask (like some say, if you don't ask you don't get). I would be more inclined to haggle if you were the ONLY livery on a small yard bringing in several horses (eg, five stables and you want them all, and are willing to do all the maintenance work etc).

JMO ;)
 
enfys said:
My Vet doesn't give me a discount for seeing multiple horses, my Farrier doesn't either, sorry, it just seems a bit of a cheek to even consider it really.
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And I'm willing to bet that your grocery store, dentist, doctor, landlord/mortgage company also don't entertain discounts because (if) you have more than one child?!
 
Dout you could haggle Diy dowm.
You get the facilities and that it, the set price.

Maybe if it was part or full you could haggle if you wanted less done, eg, not mucked out some days.
 
At my old yard the types of livery available didn't really suit me going in to winter, so I asked for a deal on part livery and got it... YO was perfectly happy to negotiate, but then again, she didn't have replacements lined up if I left. I would imagine that the YO's willingness to negotiate is going to be highly dependent on whether they reckon they can get a full-price paying livery into the box quickly.

Ask by all means, but be prepared for a 'no'. You might get lucky - as they say where I come from, 'Shy bairns get nowt' :)
 
riding_high said:
when i've been looking at yards i ask if they would do a 'discount' for 4 horses, almost all of them have said yes they would so if you do have more than one horse it is worth asking.
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^^^^ this ^^^^
I was on a livery yard for 6 years with 5 horses quite happy paying the going rate. When they put their price up which for me would have been just over £50 a month more I said I wouldn't pay it, nor would my 2 mates. One off them had 3 horses and the other 6 horses. She wouldn't offer any kind off deal so 2 weeks later all 3 off us left the same week end. 14 horses left the yard because no deal would be offered. My current yard is a lot cheaper and far better. If you have more than one horse I would ask.
 
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