I'm a retired salesman

monkey44 wrote:

bmet2000 wrote:
Why don't they just sell it for the same price to everybody? You don't haggle over prices at Walmart.

And there we have it - set one price, sell the product and we'd never have this discussion. Instead, we'd be haggling over warranty work.

Anytime you have a variable price on a large purchase product, you will have a buyer thinking he paid more than he should / could have. And you'll always have a salesman trying to sell as high as possible and still close the deal.

There is not a high dollar consumer item sold in the U.S. that is not a negotiated price! Houses, furniture, appliances, jewelry, etc. are negotiated on daily.

Manufacturers have advocated set prices for years. They are convinced they can raise their margins by successfully reducing those of the retailer. Saturn was established on that premise and we all know where that went. Vehicle sales are unique in that they are the only industry where they regularly trade in that which they originally sold you. This alone makes variable pricing necessary and normal.

Walmart sells widgets in quantity. Sometimes three for a dollar. They do not sell $20,000 plus items and they are not involved in servicing those widgets in perpetuity. A completely different business model.