AW/DELL Ordering Advice - How to save $$$

ah, yeah that would be great since it seems you got more than 20% OFF your alienware. But I'm guessing I still have to haggle with you're rep as its his job to sell me at a higher price.

 

It looks like a new desktop to me. Probably the return of the Area 51, the new GPUs are still quite a few months away, and judging by the first 28nm desktop reviews they are not gonna be more than an incremental upgrade anyway.

I am not a good haggler either which is why I use the direct approach I described in my last post. You know 28% off is the best you can get, so make that your price to aim for, keep him on the phone, suggest he throw in more warranty, a mouse, a bag, free shipping, etc. When he gives a new discounted price compare it to the price you are aiming for, hem and haw and say "man, I am hoping for better, is there anything you can do".

 

yea i hear you. thanks for the tips. i went from going cheap as possible with asus g53 @ 899 from amazon to MSI GT780DXR @ 1500 to Alienware @2000

are those memory ssd deals just shown at configuration or is it a code you have to apply?

 

They are a just a special going on right now, automatically applied. However, they are not on the EPP site, so you want to configure on the regular site and get them saved in your cart before calling into EPP.

 

Here's how it went down, for me at least.

I had an M17x R3 configured with everything in my sig, except a 2.5 GHZ processor. The list price, even after my student discount was the high end of 2500 bucks, almost 2600 bucks.

I called up the rep directly and basically said that I was willing to pull the trigger on this laptop purchase if he could help me get this into my budget range. He was really nice, and we talked a bit about what I was going to use the laptop for, a bit about the specs of the laptop, etc etc

So after talking, the rep said he would talk to his manager about some kind of discount, and came back at me and said "Because you called my line directly, I can offer you this laptop for 2260.00.... PLUS tax"

We talked some more, and he explained to me that the 2.4 ghz processor was very similar to the 2.5 ghz processor in terms of performance, and that I could save some money going with the 2.4. I said "What can you offer me for the 2.4 ghz processor instead?" - He said that he had to talk to his manager, and put me on hold for about 5-10 minutes.

He came back and said (again) because I had called his line directly, and that Dell appreciated referrals, he could offer me the 2600 dollar M17x I had configured with a 2.4 ghz processor instead of a 2.5 ghz processor for about 2080.00 and change WITH tax. I felt this was a fair concession, so I agreed and we went through with it.

Like I said, this was a rather long process... about 20-30 minutes on the phone and I was very polite. I made it clear what my budget was, and never outright demanded a discount... I framed everything in the context of "Making it fit my budget" ... I walked away very satisfied, and with the money I saved I can now snag some extra RAM for my M17x.

Anyway, if you're patient and polite... you can save a bit of money with a Dell rep. I will be buying all my future Alienwares through the phone from now on. You simply can't argue with the savings.

 

hmm not seeing the discounts for memory or ssds gets its over...

 

thanks. did u have the 120 hz 3d screen? if so how is it?

 

What HDD did you get?

Sounds like you got a good deal.

 

Nah, it just doesn't show up sometimes depending on how you get to it.

Go here: Alienware Deals

And start your config from there, you can see the specials at the bottom of the M17x area on that page. $250 off the SSD, $200 off the memory.

 

Nah, I got the 17.3-inch WideFHD1920 x 1080 60Hz WLED

I got the 500 GB 7200 RPM single drive. I am looking to get a SSD sometime in the future.

 

I'll be getting the 3d version but i'll have to wait until the 18th.

 

1 year of advanced warranty. No north american tech support.

 

Any chance you would just copy paste your order confirmation spec sheet? It's no biggie if you don't want to, I was just trying to get your percent discount off from your unit price, but when I configure what I think you got I get $2353 unit price and you said it was upwards of $2600, so I must be missing something.

If you do post your full spec sheet can you give me your before tax price also? (Since tax doesn't matter in terms of the percent discount you got).

I find myself compelled to calculate peoples % discount just to see how everyone is doing in comparison to each other. I might be bored.

 

@Yoda - how much did you really pay for your lappy? everything including TAX.

 

Only had a few minutes yesterday to give this a shot. Just used the regular number and got someone not in the US. They gave the line 'oh you have so many discounts already!' I was very polite and spoke about my budget, but she wouldn't budge and wasn't in the least worried about letting me walk away.

Checked the spec in my cart just a few minutes ago and now it is $120 dollars more. Looks like the discounts on the Killer Wireless and some other things expired. SSD and Memory discounts are still in there.

I'll try the EPP number next time like some folks have suggested. Hopefully I can get someone who'll work with me at some point.

 

Yeah don't waste your time with the main number. I tried that a few times and the guy offered me 50.00 off and said that was the best he could do, then implied that I should be grateful to even get that kind of discount because, like you said, "You've got so many discounts already!"

So don't waste your time with those people. That's my advice

 

Yes, that still works (Just confirmed), though some other discountsd/deals expired as I mentioned above. I wonder how much these individual deals impact a reps ability/willingness to deal?

As an aside. . .I noticed that my Dell rep from 8 years ago (I keep every email, yay gmail!) isn't on their sales team anymore, but the girl I talked to has the exact same name as my old rep. I wonder if they have 'virtual' names to deal with customers with.

 

TY for the advice! Hopefully I can earn the ability to contact someone's rep directly and try this approach: "I was all set to buy an MSI but I promised my buddy I'd call you and see what we could work out." Have the build already in my cart, and have the EPP information handy as well. The 'special financing' they say they have...is that 0% interest for 12 months? I didn't see any specifics.

 

Yes, if your laptop is over like 1299.00 then you've got 1 year no interest. If you can pay the entire thing off in a year, it's a great deal. However, if you don't pay it off within the year period, they'll slam you with retroactive interest... which is some obscene 29.99% or something.

 

I just got my machine at a total of 25% off with the current alienware promotion.

225-0887 1 Alienware M18x Space Black Anodized Aluminum
317-8690 1 Intel Core i7 2960XM Overclocked Turbo Boost to 4.0GHz (8MB Cache)
317-6884 1 16GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (4DIMMS)
331-2428 1 Alienware M18x 330W A/C Adapter
320-2269 1 18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
320-2318 1 Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M NVIDIA SLI Enabled
342-2629 1 256GB Solid State Drive SATA 3Gb/s
313-8792 1 AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue
421-5099 1 Alienware Command Center, M18X
420-9691 1 DataSafe Local BackUp
420-9956 1 PC Restore
421-0092 1 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
421-5789 1 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, w/Media
410-0548 1 Adobe Acrobat Reader
318-0842 1 Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner, DVD+-RW, CD-RW
421-1305 1 Roxio Creator Starter
421-5100 1 Soundblaster X-Fi Hi Def Audio - Software Enabled
430-4332 1 Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming and Video
469-0549 1 Bluetooth 3.0
461-8389 1 NO VIRUS PROTECTION REQUESTED
953-9080 1 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Initial Year
953-9100 1 Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year
994-3700 1 Accidental Damage Service, 1 Year
950-9797 1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
421-1719 1 Soft Contracts Consumer Accidental Damage Agreement for Alienware
421-1723 1 Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement for Alienware
994-3730 1 Warranty Support, Initial Year
421-1573 1 Alienhead 3D
421-1591 1 Alienhead 3D
421-1360 1 Steam and Portal Factory Installed
331-2425 1 Standard Nameplate
600-0002 1 State Environmental Fee for display 15 inches, less than 35 inches

Subtotal: $3,363.01
*Market Value* : $4,542.99
*Savings* : $1,179
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Environmental Disposal Fee: $8.00
Sales Tax: $281.69
Total: $3,652.70

 

Very impressive! You saved quite a bit of $$$ it looks like.

 

does anyone know if the 25% coupon is stackable with the $50 off dell coupon and the instant -$100 savings?

 

i wish i had the 25% off coupon.

I called the epp sales rep and all he would give me was 2% more off the 2% off you get from being a epp member. Would'nt even look at what I had in my cart.

I must be a bad haggler.

 

I just re-ordered my m18x with 27% discount (25% off + student discount) and extra 1 day shipping. I didnt have any coupons with me and all i did was just haggling through.

 

you got 25% off without the saveology coupon?

 

The reps are authorized to give up to 25% off... Give or take. It depends on how well you can haggle. I think if you have a 25% savology coupon they wouldn't stack the coupon with any sort of haggle discount. They might but I dunno...doesn't seem likely.

 

the epp rep i got was horrible was not interested in selling me anything. kind of killed it for me told me 2% off was all i can get.

 

I think 20% is the normal max discount they will give. I haven't seen many people get 25% through haggling. I would say if you get at least 20% that you did very well and should be happy with your deal.

I will also say it definitely varies. For example you can find several people who got an M18x for 25% off, but very few M17x get it that low through haggling. If you get an M11x you might be lucky to get 15% off. It all depends on the profit margin of the laptop, but I guarantee you Dell has it built right into the sales system to control the level of discounts on different systems.

How did it go so wrong bro? You maybe just got a bad rep, try try again.

 

System Color Alienware M17x, Soft Touch Nebula Red
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 2670QM 2.2GHz (3.1GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB Cache)
Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (2DIMMS)
A/C Adapter Alienware M17x 240W A/C Adapter
Display Panel 17.3-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 120Hz WLED w/ NVIDIA 3D Vision Bundle
Video Card 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M
Hard Drive 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
Nameplate Personalized Plate (omniskillz)
AlienFX Mars Red
Adobe Reader Acrobat SW Adobe Acrobat Reader
Optical Drives Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Sound Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
Wireless Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video
Security Software No Anti-Virus Software Selected
Service 1 Year Advanced Plan
Pre-Installed Software Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
Standard Nameplate Trigger Thank you for Purchasing Alienware

market value is 2403

with 2% epp 100 dollar off promotion and 50 dollar coupon it comes out to
a little over 2200 without tax.

my original hope was to get it to 1800 tax included but that seems like a dream without the 25% coupon.

even with haggling getting it to 2000 with tax included seems tough to do.

 

I guess you can get this for 2.1k or less. you just have to know how to talk. this was my first configuration and i was able to get this for 2038 including tax but i cancelled it.

 

i also think you need to spend more to get bigger discounts. with the minimal setup they dont have as much room to move to offer any discounts.

at this point i think i'm going to go back to my fall back plan.
buy samsung s27a950d 3d monitor for my desktop
and buy a used capable alienware or msi laptop off ebay for the same amount of money

 

That's true so the more you upgrade the more discount you'll get. but i'm pretty sure you can get your spec for the price you want. i got the same spec for 2038 and when i call in to cancel my order i was offered 195 bucks just for me to keep it but i still refuse and reorder. BTW mine's 8gb.

I ordered it before christmas and i told the rep if she can be my santa and give it to me for the price that i wanted HAHA.

 

i'm just not good at haggling
kat i think you should of taken that offer. you could of just got the extra ram and a SSD for that money easy

 

haha. yeah i know. but i'm happier with the 3d that i ordered now. why don't you call the rep i refer to you? he can help you knock off some more bucks.

 

that first call where i got the other rep cause your rep wasnt available left a bad taste in my mouth

plus now i cant justify paying 2k for a laptop I'm just going to use at school to play games in between classes and at work lol.

 

try emailing him first and tell him that you are calling him then give the no. where he can call you.

HAHA! don't you think 17 inch is kinda heavy to carry around?

 

Why not go with a m11x/m14x then?

 

555m is crap that's why. plus all the 900p monitor are bad from what I read.

m17x is not big for me.

 

Well the 555m is underpowered, but if you don't have 2k to spend then you need to scale your M17x down to get it below 2k bucks dude. I really doubt a salesperson is going to go under 2k for a M17x w/ 580m + blu-ray. If you can get the reps to go for it, more power to ya. Maybe check ebay or something?

 

ALIENWARE M17x R3 17.3" i7 2670QM AMD 2GB 580M 4GB 1600MHz 500GB HDD DVD | eBay

 

Kat I emailed him. I'll let you know what he says

 

That's a decently specced system. If you trust the seller I would go for it. That could be the best way to keep it under your budget of 2k. I just hope they don't try to screw you on the shipping, which it seems like a lot of ebayers like to do these days.

EDIT: looks like free shipping too, nice!

 

by the way its also best offer. I'm pretty sure I can make it 1800 even.

 

20% off gets you a price of $1922, it should be very do-able for around $2000 with tax included. Call in, tell them your budget is $1900, never budge from it. If that rep doesn't do it, hang up and try again. Ask them to go to their manager, their managers manager, etc. Talk to them and let them know you don't have more money. Many many people in here have been successful getting 20% off, you can be to.

 

yeah. sure. I'm more excited of how much you can knock of the price.

It definitely is a good speced system and at a really good price. are you planning on going to it instead?

 

@yoda did you pay for your warranty?

 

Nah, I am happy with the deal I got. If I go through ebay I won't get the 2% DFS discount and 12 months no interest. That model also doesn't have a blu-ray drive, which is something that I really want in my M17x.

 

yeh if he does ill do it for 2k. then call in 5 days later to cancel to try to get more off like some ppl have done.

 

you get 6 months no interest through bill me later and 2% in ebay cash. i know its not the same, but its something.

*edit* woops also you can get a external bluray drive for 50 dollar or less. I know its nice to have it built in but for me its not that much of a priority and in the current configuration for alienware they dont offer dvd its only bluray that I see for 3D setup anyway.