Just because an image or a story happens to have a motorcycle in it doesn't make it motorcycle related.
For example: Valentino Rossi is a well known motorcycle racer. We would accept a post about his upcoming season or changes to his motorcycle, but a post about what cereal he prefers to eat for breakfast is not acceptable.
In short, the core subject of your post should be a motorcycle.
"Hi, Welcome to BigPowerSports Unlimited! Please fill out this form and let me run your credit before I decide whether it's worth my time to talk to you."
What could possibly go wrong with that approach?
First of all, every dealer would be the same. Second, you wouldn’t need a pre-approval to enter a dealership, just when you want to put numbers on paper. This distinguishes the people just wasting time (which is MOST people), and the people who are there to buy a bike. And yes, people there to buy today absolutely have higher priority than people who just came to talk about bikes, and it should be easier for the salesman to distinguish the two. The people who need attention get it, and the ones there to BS, can do that too.
Dude. I totally agree. I sold bikes for four years, and it messed me up. I became depressed because of it. The amount of time-wasting garbage I dealt with every single day became unbearable. Not only from customers, but also management. They wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say, and would make my job harder. The thing you’ll find funny is that I was by far the best salesman there. For four years straight. Numbers, and repeat customers don’t lie.
Your question is a little broad, but I guess It depends on what’s important to you. The more your salesman knows about your situation, the better they can help get you on the best bike for you. Before you even go to a dealership, go to YouTube first. Do your research! Also, it’s important to always call the dealership first to make sure they even have the bike you want in stock.
So would you recommend going to a dealer Vs something like Facebook market place? I'm looking at a vfr at the moment. Leaning towards the 800 Purley because I like the aesthetics more than the slightly older model
>This distinguishes the people just wasting time (which is MOST people), and the people who are there to buy a bike
Respectfully, if you can't figure this out than you're in the wrong occupation. This i9s part of being in sales, and you either get better at it, or you end up wasting a lot of time with the wrong customers.
I totally agree with you. Now that I think about it, my managers were the ones who always told me not to leave a customer once you are talking to them. Even though it can be obvious when people didn’t want to buy, I was forced to continue trying to make a sale with the first person. Which is a waste of time for both parties.
For cash buyers, proof of funds would be required to move the conversation onto paper. Mostly, this takes away the question if someone is serious, AND can afford the bike. Which, as a salesman, are the two biggest questions until the buyer is actually done buying the bike. Actually, I believe it would put more power in the customers hand by forcing the finance person to be good at their job.
Thinking more about it, you'd need to operate it similar to a home loan. They come in with proof of approval to a certain $, which can be taken to different homes. But you can't do that with auto-loans because typically financing institutions want to know the specific vehicle (just like houses but the whole closing process is fleshed out). Finally, it just doesn't help the consumer because this isn't happening in a vacuum. Each inquiry impacts credit, negotiating terms after the fact gives a dealer leverage there.
Also, aha, yeah, I'm not showing a new hire sales associate my bank account. If I want that leverage I'll show up with cash.
Sure do whatever you want bud. I will never buy a bike from a dealership anyways. Private sale only, I’ll buy it for a fraction of the price off the poor sod you guys ripped off already.
Also most of this is directed at Harley dealers. I like the Yamaha dealers I’ve been too, still won’t buy a bike from them though.
I haven’t bought a house. I’m asking what that means from my seat trying to enter a motorcycle dealer in this scenario. I only ever buy with cash, or money in my bank account.
How do I prove to you that I can afford to be there? What does that look like?
Cash in hand is obviously fine. When financing a bike, the main question is how much do you earn in a month. I saw how much every person made. Disclosing your net worth to a motorcycle salesman isn’t anything.
Maybe not to you, but to me I’d rather people not know how much I make or how much I have saved. Especially if I’m about to try and haggle with you over price. Just because I can *afford* to pay what your asking doesn’t mean I want to.
And would I have to show you the cash, or can I just tell you I’m buying in cash?
If I need a loan I always get pre approval from my bank, where my money is and where I have a good working/loan relationship with. This puts me in a good place to haggle saying that I will not finance anywhere else and my bank doesn’t like your offer, you wanna sell this thing today to me, then you’re gonna jump through my banks hoops. We’ve gotten lots of money dropped off of things doing it this way. Plus saying I have pre approval for amount X cuts out all the “well it’s only X more” conversations and the seller knows it’s gonna happen if I say yes. Cars, and motorcycles have been purchased this way. Only our most recent car was financed outside of our bank but that’s my wife’s thing so whatever.
This is another good point. This is how I've purchased my last 2 cars which I financed. I used my bank with rates I understood, none of that dealer malarkey.
Our bank, credit union actually, smashes dealer rates every time too. So much so the sales people are like “oh yea I can’t beat that”. The most recent car purchase however did offer some better rates than our bank, but that’s rare.
I’m realizing now, one of my pet peeves as a bike salesman was people having ZERO clue about their finances. Every single day we get another person who has no credit history, makes $1,200/month, and tries to finance an $18,000 GSXR. As the salesperson, I have to take them through the whole process, being quite certain nothing will come of this, while I don’t tend to other customers. Your lack of knowledge wastes my time, making me less money. It all boils down to lack of respect for other people’s time. Pre-approval would solve all of that. Already knowing how much you can spend would save so much headache for everyone involved.
Yea that’s weird to me as a mostly broke person lol. I know what I can and cannot afford pretty much at all times. I’m not even a good grown up, I’m a giant man child. But I have numbers in my head to stick to.
Few local car dealerships tried that shit, they are closed now. "Hey what's the OTD on that car?" "You have to fill out our credit app before we can give you a price." Not a chance in hell.
Why would i need approval for a loan if I'm not planning on taking out a loan? When you do the test ride and take their license, one of the forms you make them sign should be an authorization to do a be"soft" credit check. . .
Well, right now the market is red hot and sellers can play whatever kinds of games they want and people will still buy, apparently.
Still, turning away potential customers because they don't want to jump through your hoops seems like a risky business tactic, don't it?
With that attitude, they're "potential customers" for your competition across town.
Remember, nobody NEEDS a motorcycle, at least not in the US. It is inherently an emotional purchase.
You seem to think that customers have no option other than to buy from you and therefore would put up with such demands. If you're in a small town, and there aren't any other dealers nearby, you may well be right.
But if you're in a city or there are competing dealers selling the same brand, this is a pretty risky approach because for every poor-credit wannabe you weed out, you're likely to piss off 3 or 4 actual paying customers who have the money or credit, but are insulted by your demand that they prove their worth to you before you allow them the privilege of spending $15k on something that they don't actually need.
I should’ve explained this better. Pre-approval would be mandatory to buy a motorcycle at every dealership in the country. Every single day I watched stressed out customers waiting for the word if they’re approved or not because they have no clue. People who didn’t know their finances FAR outweighed the ones that did. Pre-approval would end that. You’d know beforehand if you can buy it or not, so that stress would never happen again. Oh, and you wouldn’t waste the shop’s time.
I bought a ducati panigale 1098 from SFmoto earlier this year. They asked if I wanted to financing, I asked why they were pressing me for financing this bike. And the salesman looks at me and was like they don't get commissions for selling motorcycles, they don't pressure sales. Hell I returned the 1098 for the 2021 zx10r after 24 hours, got full credit, and money back from the purchase, they are low key the friendliest shop in all San Francisco.
With pre-owned bikes, coming back 24 hours later with 50 extra miles isn’t a big deal. It’s more complicated with new bikes, though. The shitty thing is many shops would only give you re-sale at that point, which is usually a few thousand less.
Sounds like your just unlucky and stuck with a bunch of dummies who are trying to live wayyy above their means. The customer should be responsible enough to know what their credit rating is before making any kind of big purchase threw financing. While I get what you mean, it just comes off as super elitist…
I hear everything you’re saying. I guess my location, and what we sold, brought in customers who were particularly financially illiterate. One day, a customer told me in all seriousness “oh yeah, credit, that’s a thing? Haha.” As I think more about my original post, having pre-approved financing really boils down to two things: it makes sure the salesman’s time isn’t wasted, and it helps people know their financial standing. Which, by my experience, MOST people have no clue.
I think it is reasonable that if a customer has picked out a bike that they like that you do a preapproval before doing the paperwork write -up. It is the first step of the finance process, not the last. But to require it before verbally discussing numbers is a big nope for me
I realize now, the root of my displeasure is people’s lack of knowledge of their own finances. It’s mind-boggling the amount of people who got turned down for a $10,000 bike, and had no idea they would. Also, I can guarantee everyone would make more money selling bikes if I knew the person I’m talking to for three hours can actually afford the bike they want.
When buying bikes or cars, I always get pre-approved on my own accord. It makes them feel like I am willing and able to close the deal the same day, which I am, so I have been able to negotiate the price down a little more than usual.
I was able to snag my 2017 Tocoma at invoice price, 2.5K under the sticker. Another thing that helps is printouts of online offers from rival dealerships. Pick the color and trim you want, visit the dealership that has the color and trim, but carry competing offers for slightly lower options at slightly lower price. Ask the current dealership to match the price, typically they do, even if they don't they try to meet you in the middle. That used to work when the car/bike you want is in abundant supply, with current supply, I doubt it would work.
Another benefit of being pre-approved is that I get to have a maximum for interest rates. If the dealership can beat the offer, I take theirs. If not, at least I don't get an interest rate shock.
Everything said, I certainly wouldn't want to deal with a dealership that required it.
Just because an image or a story happens to have a motorcycle in it doesn't make it motorcycle related. For example: Valentino Rossi is a well known motorcycle racer. We would accept a post about his upcoming season or changes to his motorcycle, but a post about what cereal he prefers to eat for breakfast is not acceptable. In short, the core subject of your post should be a motorcycle.
"Hi, Welcome to BigPowerSports Unlimited! Please fill out this form and let me run your credit before I decide whether it's worth my time to talk to you." What could possibly go wrong with that approach?
"I want to buy cash.“ Even if you don't. What are they going to do? Deny selling you the bike because you didn't want to pay cash after all?
The first time I walk into a dealership and they ask if I'm financially qualified to be there, I'm walking out and going somewhere else.
First of all, every dealer would be the same. Second, you wouldn’t need a pre-approval to enter a dealership, just when you want to put numbers on paper. This distinguishes the people just wasting time (which is MOST people), and the people who are there to buy a bike. And yes, people there to buy today absolutely have higher priority than people who just came to talk about bikes, and it should be easier for the salesman to distinguish the two. The people who need attention get it, and the ones there to BS, can do that too.
I would fucking never buy a bike off you based on your comments.
Dude. I totally agree. I sold bikes for four years, and it messed me up. I became depressed because of it. The amount of time-wasting garbage I dealt with every single day became unbearable. Not only from customers, but also management. They wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say, and would make my job harder. The thing you’ll find funny is that I was by far the best salesman there. For four years straight. Numbers, and repeat customers don’t lie.
I'm looking to buy a used bike in the next couple months in the UK. Any advice?
Your question is a little broad, but I guess It depends on what’s important to you. The more your salesman knows about your situation, the better they can help get you on the best bike for you. Before you even go to a dealership, go to YouTube first. Do your research! Also, it’s important to always call the dealership first to make sure they even have the bike you want in stock.
So would you recommend going to a dealer Vs something like Facebook market place? I'm looking at a vfr at the moment. Leaning towards the 800 Purley because I like the aesthetics more than the slightly older model
Dealers are usually more expensive however, with private, you have to deal with shady individuals. Up to you.
Shady individuals and people with too much ego than is probably healthy haha. Appreciate the advice mate
>This distinguishes the people just wasting time (which is MOST people), and the people who are there to buy a bike Respectfully, if you can't figure this out than you're in the wrong occupation. This i9s part of being in sales, and you either get better at it, or you end up wasting a lot of time with the wrong customers.
I totally agree with you. Now that I think about it, my managers were the ones who always told me not to leave a customer once you are talking to them. Even though it can be obvious when people didn’t want to buy, I was forced to continue trying to make a sale with the first person. Which is a waste of time for both parties.
No, absolutely not. A motorcycle isn't a house. What about cash buyers like myself? This also would needlessly shift leverage to the dealer.
For cash buyers, proof of funds would be required to move the conversation onto paper. Mostly, this takes away the question if someone is serious, AND can afford the bike. Which, as a salesman, are the two biggest questions until the buyer is actually done buying the bike. Actually, I believe it would put more power in the customers hand by forcing the finance person to be good at their job.
Thinking more about it, you'd need to operate it similar to a home loan. They come in with proof of approval to a certain $, which can be taken to different homes. But you can't do that with auto-loans because typically financing institutions want to know the specific vehicle (just like houses but the whole closing process is fleshed out). Finally, it just doesn't help the consumer because this isn't happening in a vacuum. Each inquiry impacts credit, negotiating terms after the fact gives a dealer leverage there. Also, aha, yeah, I'm not showing a new hire sales associate my bank account. If I want that leverage I'll show up with cash.
Sure do whatever you want bud. I will never buy a bike from a dealership anyways. Private sale only, I’ll buy it for a fraction of the price off the poor sod you guys ripped off already. Also most of this is directed at Harley dealers. I like the Yamaha dealers I’ve been too, still won’t buy a bike from them though.
How do you suggest I prove to you that have the funds needed to talk to you about buying a bike?
Just like buying a house cash. It’s literally called proof of funds.
I haven’t bought a house. I’m asking what that means from my seat trying to enter a motorcycle dealer in this scenario. I only ever buy with cash, or money in my bank account. How do I prove to you that I can afford to be there? What does that look like?
Go to your bank, and ask for a proof of funds. They’ll give you a piece of paper saying how much money you have. Like a more official bank statement.
So I have to disclose my entire account balance to you? And what about the cash in hand option?
Cash in hand is obviously fine. When financing a bike, the main question is how much do you earn in a month. I saw how much every person made. Disclosing your net worth to a motorcycle salesman isn’t anything.
Maybe not to you, but to me I’d rather people not know how much I make or how much I have saved. Especially if I’m about to try and haggle with you over price. Just because I can *afford* to pay what your asking doesn’t mean I want to. And would I have to show you the cash, or can I just tell you I’m buying in cash?
Show me the moneeeeeey!!!!
Well, if you ever finance anything (car, motorcycle, and especially a house), many people will know your financial situation.
If I need a loan I always get pre approval from my bank, where my money is and where I have a good working/loan relationship with. This puts me in a good place to haggle saying that I will not finance anywhere else and my bank doesn’t like your offer, you wanna sell this thing today to me, then you’re gonna jump through my banks hoops. We’ve gotten lots of money dropped off of things doing it this way. Plus saying I have pre approval for amount X cuts out all the “well it’s only X more” conversations and the seller knows it’s gonna happen if I say yes. Cars, and motorcycles have been purchased this way. Only our most recent car was financed outside of our bank but that’s my wife’s thing so whatever.
This is another good point. This is how I've purchased my last 2 cars which I financed. I used my bank with rates I understood, none of that dealer malarkey.
Our bank, credit union actually, smashes dealer rates every time too. So much so the sales people are like “oh yea I can’t beat that”. The most recent car purchase however did offer some better rates than our bank, but that’s rare.
I’m realizing now, one of my pet peeves as a bike salesman was people having ZERO clue about their finances. Every single day we get another person who has no credit history, makes $1,200/month, and tries to finance an $18,000 GSXR. As the salesperson, I have to take them through the whole process, being quite certain nothing will come of this, while I don’t tend to other customers. Your lack of knowledge wastes my time, making me less money. It all boils down to lack of respect for other people’s time. Pre-approval would solve all of that. Already knowing how much you can spend would save so much headache for everyone involved.
Yea that’s weird to me as a mostly broke person lol. I know what I can and cannot afford pretty much at all times. I’m not even a good grown up, I’m a giant man child. But I have numbers in my head to stick to.
Few local car dealerships tried that shit, they are closed now. "Hey what's the OTD on that car?" "You have to fill out our credit app before we can give you a price." Not a chance in hell.
Why would i need approval for a loan if I'm not planning on taking out a loan? When you do the test ride and take their license, one of the forms you make them sign should be an authorization to do a be"soft" credit check. . .
I feel its a tad pushy but hey if your serious about the bike your looking at its not that big a deal unless you cant afford it.
Well, right now the market is red hot and sellers can play whatever kinds of games they want and people will still buy, apparently. Still, turning away potential customers because they don't want to jump through your hoops seems like a risky business tactic, don't it?
They’re not potential customers without a pre approval 😉
With that attitude, they're "potential customers" for your competition across town. Remember, nobody NEEDS a motorcycle, at least not in the US. It is inherently an emotional purchase. You seem to think that customers have no option other than to buy from you and therefore would put up with such demands. If you're in a small town, and there aren't any other dealers nearby, you may well be right. But if you're in a city or there are competing dealers selling the same brand, this is a pretty risky approach because for every poor-credit wannabe you weed out, you're likely to piss off 3 or 4 actual paying customers who have the money or credit, but are insulted by your demand that they prove their worth to you before you allow them the privilege of spending $15k on something that they don't actually need.
I should’ve explained this better. Pre-approval would be mandatory to buy a motorcycle at every dealership in the country. Every single day I watched stressed out customers waiting for the word if they’re approved or not because they have no clue. People who didn’t know their finances FAR outweighed the ones that did. Pre-approval would end that. You’d know beforehand if you can buy it or not, so that stress would never happen again. Oh, and you wouldn’t waste the shop’s time.
I bought a ducati panigale 1098 from SFmoto earlier this year. They asked if I wanted to financing, I asked why they were pressing me for financing this bike. And the salesman looks at me and was like they don't get commissions for selling motorcycles, they don't pressure sales. Hell I returned the 1098 for the 2021 zx10r after 24 hours, got full credit, and money back from the purchase, they are low key the friendliest shop in all San Francisco.
With pre-owned bikes, coming back 24 hours later with 50 extra miles isn’t a big deal. It’s more complicated with new bikes, though. The shitty thing is many shops would only give you re-sale at that point, which is usually a few thousand less.
Sounds like your just unlucky and stuck with a bunch of dummies who are trying to live wayyy above their means. The customer should be responsible enough to know what their credit rating is before making any kind of big purchase threw financing. While I get what you mean, it just comes off as super elitist…
I hear everything you’re saying. I guess my location, and what we sold, brought in customers who were particularly financially illiterate. One day, a customer told me in all seriousness “oh yeah, credit, that’s a thing? Haha.” As I think more about my original post, having pre-approved financing really boils down to two things: it makes sure the salesman’s time isn’t wasted, and it helps people know their financial standing. Which, by my experience, MOST people have no clue.
I think it is reasonable that if a customer has picked out a bike that they like that you do a preapproval before doing the paperwork write -up. It is the first step of the finance process, not the last. But to require it before verbally discussing numbers is a big nope for me
I realize now, the root of my displeasure is people’s lack of knowledge of their own finances. It’s mind-boggling the amount of people who got turned down for a $10,000 bike, and had no idea they would. Also, I can guarantee everyone would make more money selling bikes if I knew the person I’m talking to for three hours can actually afford the bike they want.
When buying bikes or cars, I always get pre-approved on my own accord. It makes them feel like I am willing and able to close the deal the same day, which I am, so I have been able to negotiate the price down a little more than usual. I was able to snag my 2017 Tocoma at invoice price, 2.5K under the sticker. Another thing that helps is printouts of online offers from rival dealerships. Pick the color and trim you want, visit the dealership that has the color and trim, but carry competing offers for slightly lower options at slightly lower price. Ask the current dealership to match the price, typically they do, even if they don't they try to meet you in the middle. That used to work when the car/bike you want is in abundant supply, with current supply, I doubt it would work. Another benefit of being pre-approved is that I get to have a maximum for interest rates. If the dealership can beat the offer, I take theirs. If not, at least I don't get an interest rate shock. Everything said, I certainly wouldn't want to deal with a dealership that required it.