I was fondling one at my local dealer yesterday-$919 with a 20" bar. I stopped for a 6 pack of mix oil, talked deer hunting for a half hour, and when I left, he gave me a calendar and one of their nice company hats. I am by no means a big customer-a leaf blower, a MS 461, a 3-point hitch rototiller, and a Kombi tool 0ver the last 10 years or so-but I am treated well there. If I buy a 400, I'll buy from them.
The OPE aftermarket pretty much goes the same way. The "dealer price" is pretty much what you'll end up selling it at if you want to be competitive. And those large seasonal orders usually get you into a better price tier all year long for any smaller re-stocking or special orders. Wholegoods discounts aren't nearly as lucrative but, even with OEM wholegoods, (which is what a new saw would be classified as) the volume discounts are worthwhile for the dealer. They are just what the name states - a volume discount. At the end of the year, considering the total sales volume & margin, they add up for sure. But I have a feeling that if the dealer passed on his/her volume discount to some of these folks demanding a discount from MSRP, (and listed that dollar amount on the invoice) they'd be insulted by how little it actually is per piece. Amen to that.
A dealer could specify what bar was included with the powerhead. You could buy saws PHO as well. But the ES bar was typically only available on saws classified as "Professional". ie: I couldn't order MS290's in with 20" ES bars. MSRP changes depending on the cutting tackle. Used to be about $10 per step up in bar length. I don't know about now but I do know it still changes. This is actually a major PITA for dealers as the wholegood costs are unique for each bar option and this means you must assign a unique sku to every model/bar combo. It really gets fun if someone swaps bars on a saw before it heads out the door and it no longer matches it's initial sku description. Then, it never fails, there will be an inventory discrepancy for that sku and you have to sort out what serial number belongs on what sku and you get questioned when selling that particular saw of why it only has an 18" bar on it and the computer prints out it's an MS290 20" and ..... Typically, we would order saws in with the bar size we typically sold the most of. ie: MS290's with 20" bars (I know, I know...) and swap up/down with parts inventory. This minimized the number of sku's in inventory (so we didn't have 4 individual sku's for the MS290) and saved a lot of head-scratching and literal leg-work come time to do inventory audits.
No standard carb versions only the 362 does, I could see the possibility of confusion though since the 400 is actually based on the 362.
Congrats on the new saw! It’s interesting that they zip tied the manual to the bar and have that anti theft thingamajig on it.
Only pro saw left in stock, I have a 500 on order but no delivery dates at all so far and it’s been ordered for months. When they look at the computer the 400 and 500 are back ordered. 462 may be also because it’s been a long time since the last 462 sold and they don’t have another.
The place my wife works does some pretty serious volume, they were one of the first kinda mini chains to get them. It’s a family owned farm and fleet store that had 7 stores locally at the time but now has 10 with 3 more coming. They also deal husky saws various other brands.
I talked to my buddy that works at Stihl just to talk over the 400 . He said they’ve been great just like the 500i overall
Thought you ms400 fans might enjoy this one: joe (red97) has been doing a real nice job with these videos and his awesome dyno!
Found this on FBM tonight. First time ive seen a used one for sale. Ive PMed twice with no replies. Light weight bar with some other customizations. Asked if he'd sell it stock with no bar.
I bought a 400 a few weeks back, I've cut 2 acres of pine and oak with it now.....I'm really liking that saw, it's best stock saw I've ever run, hands down. This thing is 3/4 of a pound lighter than the famous 562xp, and has more cc and more power. Y'all need to want a 400, my dealer in southern Missouri has a pile of them in stock, as well as a couple 500i saws. Just trying to help out with everyone's CAD ....
