Shipping may be "free" to you, but it is factored into the cost for Mutton and becomes one of the factors in determining price / discount.
If my information is correct as posted, you still have not addressed why the local store is quoting $1,650 for something with MSRP of only $1,435. Are you quoting the CDN price GST / PST Tax Included and the US price Tax Exempt and in $US?
Did you take the "build your own" data - show the salesman and ask him for an explanation? Have you contacted any other local JD stores? Is this the same store where you bought your X740? Did you pay 15% over MSRP for that also.
If all this is so simple, and US dealers are as willing to discount as you would have us believe, why not deal with a Washington dealer? Why a store in Indiana?
If Mutton's price of $1,239 includes shipping, then why would I care? That's still basically $400 cheaper than here. My local store claims they need to sell above MSRP to make profit. They claim MSRP is basically their cost to purchase the product from John Deere. I claimed BS the second I heard that.
I paid American pricing on my X740 for multiple reasons, and it was a deal unheard of in Canada as far as I know. My 2012 X740 was the last X740 around, and one of the very last 2012 X700 series they had in stock to sell. They wanted to clear all of them out before spring, to make way for the new X700 series. My constant pressure and price comparing measures, along with John Deeres $1,000 incentive at the time, allowed me to walk away with the machine for $10,000 plus tax. In Canada, even a year ago, you would have paid about $13,500 - $14,000 for that same tractor. It was stored in an indoor warehouse showroom since it came off the truck, and had 0.2 hours on it when I signed for it, so I jumped on the deal. The salesman insisted that he basically made absolutely no money off of my sale, and was pretty grumpy when I signed the papers. That's not my fault though. As a consumer, I need the best possible price, I need the best cluck for my buck.
I spoke with the Salesman today, and the best situation we could hammer out was me buying the quick hitch and angling kit from the parts department, and buying just the 54 inch blade through him. So what it will end up costing me is:
Quick Hitch $700
Angling Kit $ 200
54'' Blade $600
With taxes this still comes out to $1,680. The original quote of $1,650 was before taxes, so I will still save a few hundred dollars going through the parts department for most of it. What kills me is I also need weights, chains, click-n-go brackets, and the rear weight bracket, to make this machine truly effective at moving material. When that is all said and done, it will cost me $2,500 before I can even move a single pile of dirt.