There’s a certain expectation people bring when they walk into a hot tub, pool, or sauna showroom. They assume the salesperson will nudge them toward the most expensive model that fits their budget.
We don’t run our business that way. And after 60 years of doing this across Buffalo and Charlotte, we’ve learned something most retailers won’t admit: the customer who spends more isn’t always the customer who ends up happier.
Sometimes the right call is the mid-range hot tub instead of the flagship. Sometimes it’s the smaller pool instead of the larger one. Sometimes it’s the compact sauna instead of the four-person model. And sometimes, honestly, it’s waiting six months instead of buying now.
This piece explains when we recommend spending less, why we do it, and what it costs us to give that advice.
The Bias Most Retailers Have (and Why We Fight It)
Every retail salesperson works with the same underlying pressure: bigger sales mean bigger commissions. Bigger commissions mean bigger paychecks. The natural incentive is to sell up whenever possible.
Most stores don’t fight that pressure. They train their staff to identify the maximum budget and steer toward products at the top of that range.
The result is customers who leave with the biggest hot tub, the deepest pool, the largest sauna, and the most feature-loaded grill they could afford. Some of them love their purchase for years. Others end up with a product that’s too big for their household, too complicated for their maintenance routine, or too expensive to operate for how often they use it.
We’ve watched enough of both outcomes to understand which one produces long-term happy customers and which one produces returns, complaints, and buyer’s remorse.
The happy customers are the ones who bought what fit their actual life. Not what maxed out their budget.
When We Recommend the Smaller Hot Tub
The single most common upsell in our industry is capacity. Six-seat tubs are pushed on couples. Eight-seat tubs are pushed on families of four. The pitch is always the same: “you’ll have friends over, you’ll want the room.”
Then reality shows up. The average hot tub owner uses their tub with one or two people, 80 percent of the time. The extra four seats sit empty most nights.
An oversized tub costs more upfront. It costs more to heat every month for the entire lifetime of ownership. It uses more chemicals because it holds more water. Its cover is larger and heavier, which means covers wear out faster and get replaced sooner.
We routinely recommend the Jacuzzi® J-LX or a J-200 series model to couples who came in shopping for a six-seat tub. The savings show up three ways: $2,000 to $5,000 lower purchase price, $200 to $400 lower annual operating costs, and $100 to $300 saved on cover replacements every 5 to 7 years.
Over a 15-year ownership span, that’s $6,000 to $12,000 in total savings. For a tub that gets used more, not less, because it’s easier to maintain and fits the household better.
That’s not a small correction. That’s a decision that changes the entire ownership experience.
When We Recommend the Smaller Pool
The same pattern shows up in pools.
Customers come in imagining pool parties with 20 people. What they actually get is family swim time with four or five people, most weekends of the summer.
A larger pool costs more to build, more to heat, more to chemically maintain, more to cover, and more to close and open every season. If the pool that fits your actual use is 21 feet round, buying the 27-foot round because “we might host more” is $3,000 to $6,000 in upfront cost plus $500 to $1,200 per year in additional operating expense you won’t get back.
We help customers do this math honestly. The Carvin and Vogue above-ground pool lineup offers plenty of sizes, and matching pool size to actual household size (not aspirational hosting frequency) usually delivers better value.
Occasionally a customer really does host large groups often enough to justify a bigger pool. When that’s the case, we say so. But we don’t assume it, and we don’t push the larger option to hit a higher sale.
When We Recommend the Mid-Range Instead of the Premium
Hot tubs and pools both scale into premium tiers with additional features, higher jet counts, better cabinets, and more technology. Sometimes those upgrades are worth every dollar. Sometimes they aren’t.
The honest test is whether you’ll notice the difference every time you use the product.
Worth spending more on:
- Comfortable seating that fits your body (you’ll feel this every use)
- Effective hydrotherapy for your specific pain points (measurable benefit)
- Better insulation (saves money every month for the life of the tub)
- Quality cover (protects your investment and reduces electricity waste)
- Reliable controls (frustration-free ownership matters)
- Local service support (peace of mind)
Often not worth the upsell:
- Bluetooth speakers you’ll use twice a year
- Chromotherapy lighting you’ll appreciate for a week then ignore
- Automatic water leveling systems that add complexity
- Premium cabinet colors that cost $500 more
- App control features you’ll set once and never touch
We help customers separate the two lists. Sometimes the mid-range tub with excellent insulation, quality jets, and a good cover delivers 90 percent of the premium experience at 65 percent of the cost.
That’s the recommendation we’d make for our own family. So it’s the recommendation we make for customers.
When We Recommend Waiting
Some of the hardest conversations happen when a customer wants to buy today, but the project isn’t ready.
Common scenarios where we recommend waiting:
The backyard needs work first. If your yard has drainage issues, no electrical service, no delivery access, or no proper foundation for a hot tub or pool, installing anyway creates ongoing problems. We’d rather help you plan the site prep, get it done, and buy the product 60 to 90 days later than push through with a bad install.
The budget doesn’t cover the full project. A $10,000 hot tub with a $6,000 total project cost is a $16,000 commitment. If the budget realistically only supports $12,000 all-in, we’d rather help you plan for the full amount than push through with corners cut on cover quality, electrical work, or site prep.
The season is wrong. Pool installs done in September rarely make sense unless you’re planning specifically for next spring. Hot tubs delivered mid-summer in Charlotte often see less use than those installed in fall. Timing matters, and pushing through the wrong season loses value.
The buyer isn’t ready. Sometimes a customer walks in genuinely uncertain. Not just “which model” uncertain, but “should I even buy” uncertain. Those buyers benefit from taking another few weeks to think through the five questions we walk everyone through before recommending anything. A confident buyer is a happy owner. An uncertain buyer often becomes a regretful one.
We’re not going anywhere. Six months from now, we’ll still be here. If waiting produces a better outcome, waiting is what we recommend.
When We Recommend Spending Nothing (Yet)
The rarest conversation, but one worth mentioning.
Sometimes a customer walks in shopping for a specific product they’ve decided they want. Once we talk through the actual use case, it becomes clear the product isn’t what would deliver the experience they’re looking for.
The customer who wants a hot tub for “family bonding” but has three teenagers who never go outside might be better served by an outdoor entertainment setup, an outdoor kitchen, or a fire pit that creates gathering points that fit their family’s actual patterns.
The customer who wants a swim spa for “exercise” but hasn’t exercised regularly in years might benefit from a gym membership commitment first, and a swim spa conversation second.
The customer who wants a sauna for “wellness” but hasn’t defined what wellness looks like for them might be shopping for the wrong solution to an undefined problem.
In those cases, we’ll ask questions. We’ll help think through the real goal. And sometimes we’ll suggest not buying anything until the underlying question gets clearer.
That’s genuinely uncomfortable to do as a salesperson. Losing a sale by suggesting no sale isn’t natural. But it’s what we’d want from a business we trusted, and it’s what builds the kind of relationships that lead customers to come back for their next purchase, refer friends, and stay loyal for decades.
What Spending Less Buys You
There’s an assumption that spending less means getting less. That’s not always true.
Spending less on the right things buys you:
Lower ongoing costs. Every dollar not spent upfront isn’t paying interest and isn’t accumulating operating costs over years of ownership.
Simpler maintenance. Smaller, simpler products are usually easier to maintain, which means they get maintained, which means they last longer.
More use. Products that fit your household get used more. Products that get used more deliver more value per dollar spent.
Less buyer’s remorse. Nobody regrets a purchase that matches their actual life. Plenty of people regret purchases that felt aspirational at the time.
Room to invest elsewhere. The $4,000 you didn’t spend on an upsized hot tub could pay for a proper pergola, path lighting, and privacy screening that make the smaller tub dramatically more usable.
The math on “less” often ends up meaning “better,” which is why we bring it up.
Where We Recommend Spending More
Fair to be balanced. Not every decision points toward the lower-priced option.
Areas where we consistently recommend spending more:
Quality of the anchor product itself. Cheap out on the hot tub, pool, or grill and you’ll regret it. Choose the right size, then invest in build quality within that size.
Cover quality. Cheap covers cost more in electricity and replacement frequency than good covers cost upfront.
Insulation packages. Full-foam insulation on a hot tub pays for itself in energy savings within 3 to 5 years and keeps paying for the rest of ownership.
Site preparation. Concrete pads, proper electrical, drainage, and delivery access are not places to cut corners. Getting these wrong creates problems that cost more to fix than to do right the first time.
Local service support. Buying from a dealer who services what they sell is worth real money over the life of the product.
Privacy and comfort around the product. Pergolas, path lighting, seating, and privacy screens are often what determine whether the anchor product gets used or ignored.
The pattern is consistent: spend more on things that affect long-term satisfaction and ongoing cost. Spend less on features that feel exciting in the showroom but fade in daily reality.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if a salesperson is pushing me to overspend?
Watch how much time they spend asking about your household, your backyard, and your habits versus how much time they spend on features and price tiers. Good salespeople spend the first 30 minutes understanding your situation. Upsell-focused ones jump to product tiers within 5 minutes.
Is a mid-range hot tub really as good as a premium one?
For most owners, yes. Premium features are genuinely valuable for buyers with specific needs (severe joint pain, competitive athletes doing recovery, wellness-focused daily users). For casual owners, mid-range models deliver the same core experience at meaningful savings.
What’s the average savings when you recommend a smaller product?
Depends on the category. Hot tubs typically save $2,000 to $5,000 upfront plus $200 to $400 per year in operating costs. Pools save $3,000 to $10,000 upfront plus $500 to $1,500 annually. Saunas save $1,500 to $4,000 upfront.
What if I disagree with your recommendation to spend less?
Then you buy the model you want. We’re offering our best advice based on decades of watching what makes owners happy. If you have specific reasons to go bigger or fancier, we’re not going to talk you out of it. Our job is to give you an honest recommendation. Your job is to make the final call.
Is this advice actually different from other dealers?
Some yes, some no. Most family-owned dealers who’ve been in business for decades operate this way. Newer stores, franchises, and commission-heavy operations often don’t. Ask any dealer you’re considering how they get compensated and what their return rate is. The answers tell you a lot.
The Bottom Line
Recommending spending less means we sometimes lose out on a bigger sale.
We’re okay with that.
The customer who ends up happy with their purchase for 15 years is worth more to us than the customer who spent $5,000 extra and regretted it for the next decade. Long-term relationships beat maximum single transactions every time.
We’re not the cheapest dealer. We’re not the fanciest. We’re the family-owned business that’s been serving Buffalo and Charlotte for more than 60 years by helping customers make good decisions, then supporting them for years afterward.
Sometimes that means recommending spending more. Sometimes it means recommending spending less. What it always means is being honest about what will actually make you happy.
Come have that conversation in person. Visit any Gary Pools & Leisure showroom to talk through your household, your backyard, and your goals with our team. We’ll give you our honest recommendation, whether that’s the premium model or the compact one, whether that’s today or three months from now.
Locations: Amherst, Cheektowaga, Clarence (NY) and Matthews (Charlotte NC).
