business is essentially buying for less and selling for more. today, i saw the slickest salesman EVER, and i've seen some. i felt myself get really mad because he was lying to the customers about his cost. arguably, any business can be thought of as "cheating" the customer. ie: is honda messed up for selling cars for more than they cost to make? no. i guess the obvious answer is if there is a falsification of facts during the presentation, that is messed up.

any thoughts?

 

A sales pitch should never include lying to the customer. There is nothing wrong with buying a product for one price then right away turning around and selling it at a higher price. I've made a lot of money doing that and practically doubled my income during high school and college that way. I feel I was always very honest with my buyers though and never once did I misrepresent the condition or quality of anything.

 

When you buy low and then sell higher, your customers are getting something more for their money, namely access to the product. So Honda make a few bucks building cars, and for that added expense, I don't have to try to figure out how to assemble a car from raw materials. Supply and demand should take care of the price-- is someone is buying for 1 dollar and selling for 1000, eventually others will start to get into that market and drive the price down.

 

If a salesman voluntarily gives his cost info, he's probably lying.

 

Lying to the customer is wrong, no matter what it's about.

Everyone knows a salesman needs to make a profit, that's no secret. But lying to a customer makes me want to punch someone in the mouth.

 

 

what? you think honda should charge exactly what it costs to make the car?
why? does Porsche, BMW, Ford, GM, Toyota, etc not try to make profit on their products or something?

 

im not saying that, im saying it's arguable.

 

Ripping people off sucks. Replacement Window and Viynl Siding places are notorious for praying on the dumb people.

I can pay <$200 installed for a good quality window. People around here get ripped by a-holes all the time for $600 for the same freaking window with horrible installers to make it even worse.

Same with siding for the houses. Horrible quality at premium $.

Salesman / F&I people may rip people off, but i would say in general the manufactures don't.

Survival of the fittest.

 

Don't forget the true cost of an item to a business is more than what price they it for. They have the cost of inventory (money, um, costs money), advertising, direct labor, and keeping the lights on. All of that has to be factored into what an object's "cost" is to a retail location. And then you have a major distinction in pre-tax and post-tax profit.

It would not be a lie to include these factors in a discussion, if known. But it would be poor business practice to expose your internal costs in such detail.