Whereas with Carmax, there’s no need to wonder; you always get screwed over.
Seriously, Carmax prices are generally significantly higher than even dealers’ “certified used” program cars.
More and more places will drop prices if you ask , they just don’t talk about it much. Or they will match prices which is similar. I know guitar chains will sometimes give you freebies instead of dropping a price.
I am not aware of anything that costs as much as a car that is not subject to negotiation over price, whether goods or services.
Your point is well taken, but not in my case, at least. Not to get off on a tangent, but after a lot of research, I was very happy with the price I got at CarMax, especially since there were no hidden fees (although they did try to sell me an extended warranty, of course). It could be that used car prices in the Tampa area are a bit higher in general.
I guess my main point was that I hate haggling for a large purchase, whether it’s a house, a car, or whatever. If I know the “best and final” offer right off the bat, I can just shop around without having to get into some sort of contest with the salesperson.
I’d be interested in seeing if I’m an outlier in this regard. I’ll start a thread in IMHO.
Now a lot of dealers have an ‘internet price’ that in most cases is close to what a good haggler could get and the closest thing to ‘pay one price’ at most dealers in the US. Of course a great haggler could do better and you can still get screwed on trade in/ financing.
Comparing different makes and models is a big enough hassle by itself, when you don’t even know what the real price is going to be it makes it even more of a pain.
The last couple of times I shopped for a used cars I visited several dealers with cars that where marked way over fair market price, but they refused to budge an inch on the price so I end up walking away 
I do get a small amount of satisfaction when I drive by a few months later and the car is still on the lot (I like to stop in and show them the car I got for a fair price and ‘notice’ they still have the same one sitting there (I know it’s immature)). Still I can’t figure out what their strategy is, they like to pay interest on a car while it depreciates? They thought I would come back and pay their ridiculous price? They didn’t think I was a serious buyer?
Huh? No, it was a rhetorical question obviously, dealing with whiners that think life is fair, everything should be the same for everyone, that because someone has a superior talent or motivation and can make something happen, it’s not fair for the person that can’t.
Home improvement work? You can certainly negotiate with a contractor over how much that $10,000 kitchen remodel should really cost.
So, the fact that some companies have different business models, and consumers prefer some business models over others, means that those consumers are whiners?
Somehow I don’t think this line of thought is taught at Wharton.
One time a friend told a dealer “Just give me a good price I don’t want to haggle.” and the dealer said he would not because if he did , the guy would just try to beat the price somewhere else.
I think part of the process is it is so painful to haggle, you don’t want to do it at multiple places.
I’m not sure if you disagree with me or missed the double negative.
If someone says “I prefer not to have to bargain,” that is fair enough. I think the sentiment is a touch naïve, but I can certainly understand where that person is coming from. As mentioned, the effort of bargaining (and that it is an effort is why I understand the reluctance to engage in it) is a transaction cost. So when a person whines “It’s not fair that Bargainer got this for 6% less than what I paid and all I ever did wrong was accept the seller’s opening offer” what they are really saying is “Someone else should pay my bargaining costs (effort, not dollars) for me.”
It is this claim: that it is somehow unfair that those whose develop their bargaining talents and apply them in their negotiating efforts reap a reward from that which those who do not do those things do not get.
It is like saying it is unfair that stupid people don’t get to be brain surgeons or ugly people aren’t allowed to be models.
When you take an airline flight you will find many different prices paid by people on the flight. Depends on how you bought the ticket and when among other variables.
I just noticed that the above is hopelessly unclear. To restate:
A person develops her bargaining talents and applies them in her negotiating effort. She reaps a reward (lower prices or more features for the same cost) by doing that. Some people claim it is unfair that she gets this benefit while her brother, who values his time more/isn’t a smooth-talker/has low frustration tolerance/etc. etc., does not bargain and consequently does not get as good a price as she does.
I reject that claim, and furthermore, characterize it as “silly.”
Missed the double negative. :smack:
I’ve opened Do you like to haggle? so as not to hijack this thread too horribly (which may be a lost cause, but still).
I apologize for my contribution to the hijack.
This is a somewhat valid point. But in my opinion, it seems that the vast majority of the other items in that price range are either custom-made, or are one-of-a-kind. I had planned to mention earlier that negotiation is normal for those sort of things, because it is impossible to set a standard price for them. Every home in a certain neighborhood is a bit different than the next, with its own set of pluses and minuses, and the most anyone can do is to come up with an estimated price, and then go see how potential customers react to it. But there are thousands (even tens or hundreds of thousands) of [fill in a car manufacturer] [fill in a model name] made each year with [fill in the name of an options package]. In my mind, that removes cars from this category, and makes them comparable to any other appliance.
This is very true. But there is no bargaining involved. Each of those tickets has a different value, and that’s why they’re sold for a different price. If you’re a businessperson who needs to come home the same week as you left, that will cost you; if you’re a vacationer who can spend Saturday night away, you’ll get a discount. If you can do the airline a favor by buying your ticket far in advance you’ll get a discount, but if you want to buy it at the last minute, it will cost more. Save the airline some advertising bucks by being part of a group, that’ll get a discount. If you’re willing to accept a non-refundable ticket, that’ll be another discount. And so on.
Can you please explain why a person with good negotiating skills should get a cheaper ticket, or a cheaper car? Has she made things easier for the salesperson? I don’t think so. In fact, I could argue the opposite: If the cars have fixed prices, that makes things easier and cheaper for the dealer. You won’t have salesmen and managers haggling like crazy; you’ll only need a few knowledgeable people to answer questions, and to accompany you on the road test. And a cashier. But why should negotiating skills get you a better price on a car? Should good painting skills get you a better price on a car? What’s the difference?
except that leaves a lot of excess value on the table.
price discrimination is a good way of capturing all the value in a given marketplace and maximizing profit. haggling/negotiating is an extreme form of price discrimination. from the seller’s perspective in the case of big-ticket items, where there are relatively fewer sales, the time is well-spent on adopting and having such a pricing regime.
if something is priced at 10,000 when you’d find someone willing to pay 11k for it, you’ve left money on the table.
people that bitch about negotiating the price on an item that they don’t buy many of just whine because they aren’t getting the best deal possible without putting in minimal effort on their part. at the very worst, you can always make your take-it-or-leave-it final offer price at the onset. this way, you don’t bother with the niceities of negotiation (and obviously won’t pay more than you were willing to pay in a negotiation-free system) but leave the value-capturing to those who are willing to expend the effort on it.
Airline tickets are not bargaining, but a person can get a better deal by using more knowledge. You might know more about when to buy , how to buy ,etc.