What is the average dealer mark up?

@badger_erich... you are clearly an idiot and a troll!!

Well done alll... discussing margins and what Dealers can or do make on a sale. This should be taken down immediately.

Just another clear example of how unprofessional the Hi-Fi Industry really is. For those of you who work in the business or have worked in the business, shame on you to even disclose margins, Again, just goes to show how unprofessional you are and the business as a whole. To think you are somehow being clever discussing it is even more embarrassing and ignorant.

Margins should never be disclosed as selling Hi-Fi as a retailer is hard enough as it is.

Another example of why forums like this do nothing good.

+1 rwisem. Car dealerships make money on service and trade ins. The profit margin on a new car is low. I would think in high end audio that they would need to have a 100% markup just to make overhead and have some bargaining power with the buyer.  I feel for those guys, must be incredibly hard to keep a business going with all the info the buyer has at his/her fingertips. 

Average mark-up information is nice to know - not sure how you utilize it for negotiating your price unless you are able to clearly define the audio store's fixed and variable costs.

• fixed costs will include the store, its fixtures, infrastructure, overhead and inventory
• variable costs will include inventory costs, labor costs and such
• Additionally, there will be advertising costs and other overhead that may be variable

It's not uncommon for a retailer to require a 100% mark-up based on the velocity of product moving off of their shelf.  Many luxury items are only purchased after folks get an opportunity to experience it with their sense.

Manufacturers will have different programs for 'authorized dealers' and may offer tiered discount or rebate based on volume for a period (often yearly) or other promotions. 

There are some manufacturers that protect their authorized dealers and some who don't -they will definitely have different mark-ups.

I expect mark-ups to vary significantly between manufacturers (brand reputation and placement) and within their product lines (good, better, best options) because of the size of the market and recent trends in market growth.

In looking for the best deal, I think it might be worth develop a relationship as a customer of choice and exploring purchasing demo models and close-outs where special programs enable a store to 'move product'.

As a former dealer of high-end audio equipment, I have to laugh at most of this.  It is such bull.

FIRST, open a store.  That only costs about $3.00, right?  Then, stock it with, oh, maybe $200,000 worth of stuff.  That is all free, of course.

THEN, pay your employees, who work for free and you never have to pay social security, workman's comp, taxes, insurance, shipping, floor plan costs (CAR DEALERS ANYONE???) or anything for that, of course.

SO, EVERY PENNY you take in goes straight into YOUR pocket and you laugh hilariously at your dumb customers while sitting with a cocktail and 5 Playboy bunnies on the poopdeck of your billion dollar yacht.

You people are dumber than fire hydrants, and that is insulting to the fire hydrants.

I would hate to have had most of you for customers, but I am SURE your current dealers just LOVE it when you enter their establishments with your big mouths and know-it-all attitudes.

Good grief!  It is a wonder to me that most of you every buy anything at all.

I’ve spent my life working in Audio, and some of the posts above are substantially correct. The real issue is so what does this tell you?  B&M retail is in decline for many reasons. The vast variety of products that can be found on the internet, many now “direct to consumer”, skew the perception of value, and what is possible for a dealer to support. Face to face discussions with experienced pros and live demos can be very valuable to the audio buyer, and they take time and care to set up. Most dealers pay a bonus for sales at retail (no discounts guys) and that salesman has mouths to feed too. Sure, I can save you some $$ on that, but it’s going to cost me a lot to do so. Audio retail does not pay all that well. Our customer typically has a much higher income. Those of us who still do this love the work, love to help customers enjoy music and sound, but our market is aging out (we too), and CV is going to take a big toll as well.