This has always been a mystery to me. You can get dealer invoice price for cars but not other items such as TVs, refrigerators, Steinway pianos, etc.
What’s special about cars that we can get invoice price from Consumer Reports, Edmunds, etc? Is it a government law? Do car manufacturers voluntarily provide all this info to various publications?
(Yes, I know dealer invoice price is sorta meaningless because there are holdbacks, kickbacks, co-op advertising, etc. So car dealer still makes money even if they sell at or even below invoice price. However, I still wonder why consumers have an “invoice” price in addition to MSRP price.)
Couldn’t it just be that cars are one of the few things (in America) whose price is negotiable to a certain degree? Most of the other stuff just sells at its set price, so knowing what the store paid for it wouldn’t really benefit you much in terms of haggling.
Because the dealer invoice price is total bullshit. There are a million rebates, factory incentives, and various other made up stuff. For example, the invoice price on a Ford truck might be $20,000. However, Ford will give the dealer a $200 rebate for buying 30, a $50 rebate for getting them with a GPS package, a $150 rebate for buying 13 blue trucks, a $35 rebate for wearing a red tie to the sale etc. etc. The dealer might only be paying $18k for the truck, but the invoice price will be $20k.
Yes, but that is true of many (maybe most) items in commerce. Manufacturers of all kinds of products are always offering various incentives like this. So this really doesn’t address the OP question.
I suggest the answer is due to the price of vehicles – after a house & a college education, vehicles are probably the most expensive items people purchase. (And, as Brandon pointed out, the purchase price is negotiable.)
So knowing the dealer invoice price is valuable information, and it’s worthwhile for organizations to do the work of gathering it and making it available in magazines or online.
I’m sure that dealer invoice prices for other items could be gathered & published. But it’s hardly worthwhile for items like TVs, refrigerators, etc., when they only cost a few hundred dollars. Even if you knew the dealer invoice price on a TV, and even if you could find a seller who would deal on the price, the dollar amount you would save would not be enough to be worth the effort.
… do we know the “hows” … in other words, what’s the mechanism that makes this happen? How is the invoice price even transparent enough for Consumer Reports mag or edmunds.com to tell it to you? Do those publications have spies that work at GM, Toyota, BMW and secretly mailing the invoice price back to the publications? Or does the government require the automakers to disclose it? Or is there a secret code on the door panel that lets you decode what the invoice price was?
So what’s the special situation with cars that allows consumers to know invoice price on cars but not on $70,000 Steinway piano.
Almost everything is negotiable. We never pay sticker price for furniture items, for instance. Most stores will give 10-15% if you ask. If they won’t, go elsewhere.
Probably just that almost everyone in America owns a vehicle, and replaces it every few years; while only a very few buy a $70,000 Steinway, and it lasts for decades. And those who do by the Steinway’s probably are rich enough that they don’t have to be very concerned about negotiating a discount.
Sorry, I poorly worded my previous post. I took out the word “situation” and I meant to say more precisely:
So what’s the special mechanism/law/transparency/procedure/publication/DataCollection/disclosure with cars that allows consumers to know invoice price on cars but not on $70,000 Steinway piano.
But most Americans don’t do this. Most of us dislike negotiating over prices, so we do it only when we have to. For most of us, the only time we have to is car shopping. There are even dealers who take the negotiation over price out of this transaction, and they seem to be doing fairly well.
We get 'em below invoice. Actually, we get them at net dealer cost (not invoice, any shmoe can get invoice). Even-Steven. The company then pays the dealer 3% of that cost as profit.
Of course, the dealer can still add stupid options like pin striping for $300 or $500 for some coat of wax, so even though it’s a fixed price, you still can’t be a complete moron when you walk in.
Also, it’s forbidden for dealers to offer you things as an incentive to purchase from them rather than other dealers. Such as, free pin striping or magical mystery wax. If it’s an incentive available to the general public in general, then it’s okay.
Anyone who falls for the “no haggle” price scam deserves to be taken to the cleaners, IMO. With all of the information available on the web, there is no reason to pay those prices. Negotiating over prices is no different than comparison shopping; it just saves you the gas needed to drive around town.
My Dad used to embarass the hell out of me from haggling everywhere, even at chain retail stores, but he was able to save money. I ended up doing it myself, when I was 19 I was shopping for a digital delay pedal and I saw that the local guitar store wanted $170 for one that I could get for $99 ordered from a magazine. I told the guy at the shop that I could get it for $90 mail order, but I didn’t want to wait a few weeks to get it, he knocked $70 off the price for me.
There is none, other than “the market”. If you research you can find the wholesale price on the Steinway. However, traditionally cars have been a high-haggle item, thus dudes have really wanted “invoice”, thus the market complies.
At the big discount stores, you can nearly beat their markup by only buying the big-ticket and promo items, and not the little extras. $500 for a new 'puter? 4% markup. New printer with both color and black ink? $50 and you’re ahead at least $20. $20 printer cable? 200% markup. Online for nothing but shipping and positive feedback.