Every Monday I look at what hot tub shoppers did on Hot Tub Hunt the week before: which models they looked at, what they filtered for, and what buyers reported paying. Here's what stood out from October 12 to 18.
Small tubs had a big week
Five of the eight most-viewed hot tubs on the site this week seat three people or fewer:
- Freeflow Mini: 2 seats, runs on a standard outlet or a 220V circuit, MSRP $5,499
- Jacuzzi J-315: 3 seats
- Viking Aurora 3: 2 seats
- Bullfrog A5D Choice: 3 seats, buyers paid a median of $11,000 (7 reports)
- Eco E5: 2 seats, runs on 110V
That matches what shoppers tell our search filters. Over the past four weeks, of the shoppers who filtered by seat count, 79% picked 2–5 seats and about a third picked 2–3.
Here's the interesting part: three out of four buyer price reports on Hot Tub Hunt are for tubs with six or more seats. People start out looking small and often end up buying bigger. If you're on the fence, it's worth knowing what each size actually costs. Here's what buyers have reported paying, by seat count:
| Seats | Median paid | Buyer reports |
|---|---|---|
| 2–3 | $10,149 | 28 |
| 4–5 | $10,558 | 139 |
| 6–7 | $13,000 | 435 |
| 8+ | $17,500 | 75 |
Going from a 3-seater to a 5-seater costs buyers only a few hundred dollars at the median. The big jump comes at six seats and up.
The big tubs shoppers looked at, and what buyers paid
The three most-viewed large hot tubs this week, with real prices paid:
- Master Spas LSX 900, the most-viewed hot tub on the site this week: 8 seats, 72 jets. Median paid $17,998 (middle half $17,130–$18,875, 10 buyers).
- Jacuzzi J-345: 7 seats, 41 jets. Median paid $14,900 (middle half $13,000–$15,000, 9 buyers).
- Hot Spring Grandee: 7 seats, 49 jets. Median paid $18,775 (12 buyers), about 29% below its $26,499 MSRP.
That Grandee gap is bigger than usual but not unusual in direction. Across Hot Tub Hunt's price data, buyers pay about 19% under MSRP on average. If a dealer quotes you MSRP, you have room to negotiate.
Brand interest
Master Spas and Bullfrog got noticeably more attention than usual: model page views were up about 40% and 27% over their four-week averages. Hot Spring and Nordic held steady.
October shoppers are buying, not browsing
Over the past four weeks, 63% of shoppers who asked us for pricing said they're ready to buy now, and another 27% within one to three months. That's nine in ten planning to buy before the end of the year. Fall is a good time to buy: you get the tub in before cold weather, when a hot tub is at its best.
What buyers are paying right now
In the last 90 days, buyers reported a median of $11,300 for a new hot tub, with the middle half paying $9,521–$14,875 (90 reports). Across all of Hot Tub Hunt's price data, the median is $12,167. You can see every week's numbers in one place in our hot tub market report, and the full breakdown by brand on our hot tub prices page.
Bought a hot tub recently? Tell us what you paid. It's anonymous, and it helps the next shopper get a fair deal.
How we count: "most-viewed" ranks models by the number of shopper sessions that opened the model's page, excluding known bots. Prices are approved buyer reports. Seat-filter and buying-timeline numbers cover September 21 – October 18.