Originally Posted by
DayGloDago
I've worked "retail" in the sense that I've sold used cars [NOT the stereotypical way- I've actually talked people OUT of buying cars they were interested in]- But it didn't change my mind about anything. We are not competing against the customers- we are competing against other businesses. The customer merely wants the best deal. If we can't hang with the competition/out-do them, then that is our problem, not the customers- and we may not deserve to be in business.
I've sold cars informally for a good part of my life...but it was only for a short time that I helped a friend out by working at his used car lot, that I learned: Surprisingly few people negotiate/bargain. And with the ones who did bargain, I'd never get insulted at any offer- I knew what the vehicles were worth/what we had in them, and would either just reject their offers or counter, if they weren't acceptable. Never took it personally. In any form of business that involves reselling, you make your money when you buy your merchandise- so if you're not making money or not able to offer competitive prices, you're doing something wrong....and ya can't blame the consumer for that.
It's really kind of odd how car sales work in the U.S. So many people seem to be under the impression that there are magic formulas to follow ( "Offer $600 over the dealer cost, which you can get from this handy website!" sort of thing, etc. ) As a consumer, my take on it is that I ultimately am not going to have access to the "real" cost to the dealer, to say nothing of their internal incentives to move a car off the lot, and so the only way to find the true value is just to go through the negotiating process. It's important to have some sense of standard sales techniques and be able to counter them, as well as simply not be emotionally invested in whatever you're bidding for, but ultimately it boils down to a few rounds of give-and-take until you're both happy with the result.