Well...I sympathize with the LDS and with the buyer...If I knew a particular price point was necessary for me to make a deal, and the LDS was going to take a bit of time sizing me(or otherwise spending time on the sale to make it right), etc., I'd make it known early on that they don't have a deal unless they make that price...
I wouldn't put the LDS through a bunch of work and then negotiate...(assuming I knew the price point beforehand)...And, I'm not saying someone here implied that they would put the LDS through the work beforehand...but merely point out that I wouldn't.
There's nothing wrong with putting them through the "work" beforehand - until you know what they will do for you, it is not possible to negotiate from a fair position.
Its called leverage, and you have every right to use any legitimate tactic in negotiating a deal. The SELLER will (he KNOWS his cost - you do not with certainty and perhaps not at all), so why should not you?
There is nothing wrong with not disclosing your bottom line price to the seller until you have ascertained that the item is indeed that which you wish to buy. This is ESPECIALLY true if there is more than one piece you are considering - what you'll pay for one might be very different than what you'd pay for something else that does the same job, based on your perception of quality, features, etc.
Take a new car. The car has a sticker on it. Is that the price you will pay? Only if you're insane. Do you tell the dealer before you drive the car what you'll pay? No. You take your test drive, look under the hood, figure out if you like the way it drives, feels, looks - and only THEN do you tell the dealer what your number is. Why? Well there are lots of cars, and all will get you to work. But what you'll pay for one has no relationship to what you'll pay for another.
A smart buyer figures out which product he would prefer, and once he's made that determination he then figures out what he's willing to pay for it. If he is considering two or three competing products, then he will figure out the "bottom line" for each of them before commencing his negotiation and trying any of them on for size. Once he knows what he'd prefer, then and only then does money come into the game.
The dealer may tell you to pound. If he does, you can choose to try to negotiate or show him the back of your head. You can bet you'll get a call if you walk though, as long as your offer was over his cost - unless the dealer does something stupid.
Is the whole thing over when you (initially) walk? Of course not, unless the seller does something to make it that way, like insulting you on the way out the door, or telling you that he "can't" sell under a given price. As soon as a seller does any of those things, he's queered the deal - he's made a "take it or leave it" statement, and has to accept that, if you have done your homework and your offer is indeed over his cost, that the odds are nearly 100% that he just lost the sale.
The ONLY way he wins in that situation is if you INTENTIONALLY made a lowball offer under his cost, with the full intention that it would be rejected, as a starting point for negotiations. Of course if you've done that then that's cool, but if you haven't - if you really DO have a competitive price elsewhere at or close to your offer - the shop you are in has just written off the contents of your wallet with such a statement.
The seller knows, if you're a serious buyer, that your money is fragile. It will get spent, and once it is, he won't get any of it, because once its gone, its gone.
I find nothing wrong with going into a store, doing my fitting and/or examination, determining which product(s) I am willing to own, developing my sense of the value of the transaction in tiotal, including whatever the shop is offering in terms of service and customer relations, and only THEN telling them what I will pay.
I cannot possibly formulate a real number that represents what I believe the entire value of the transaction is until I fully understand how I'm going to be treated, how service before and after the sale will be handled, and how much I perceive that the shop values me as a customer. It is NOT just about the lowest price - it is also about what they have in stock, how quickly they can get what I require if its not in the building, whether they will intercede in warranty issues and cover them on their own (and then seek reimbursement or replacement from the manufacturer) or whether they expect me to deal with that directly, etc.
In short, its about value, and that is impossible for me as a buyer to determine until the entire deal has been presented to me. Once that has been done, then and only then can I come up with what I believe is a fair price for the transaction.
If I want a box out the door then there is no fitting or service issue in hand - I will simply walk in, tell them what I want and what I'll pay, and either walk out with it or not.
For most things that have a "fit and comfort" component, this kind of 30-second transaction is never going to take place.
