I don't use either, really...I buy a bigger book and mark up 7-10% if the market will bear...a lot of times my purchase price is the gpa recorded sale ( I bought at auction, etc) but I have decided this year I'm going with the "book is priced to sell" mentality... in other words, my bottom line price is already on the book, no negotiations nec...
I realize that some folks like the "win" scenario, but I'm ok leaving some meat off the bone to realize "my" needed price...and don't have to waste time bartering back and forth...
a couple of examples from last week that was indicative... I was attractively priced on an AF15....there was another in the room, same grade, that wasn't as visually appealing and was priced 15% more... the customer offered me 15% less on my copy, even though I had told him "that's the price I will sell it for"....he walked away, came back an hour later, and purchased at my sticker...quoting that the other dealer was willing to give him a 10% discount.... but, after some discovery, as mentioned ,the other dealer was 15% priced higher, and copy wasn't as nice, so I was still considerably the better deal...
I told him I could mark my copy up 10% and then discount 10%, but that seems like a waste of time to me... ultimately he understood and was happy...
another customer purchased a $75 book from me...there were multiples in the room priced no lower than $100.... he proceeded to ask me what I could do for him...I told him it is $75... he was like, "no discount"? and again, as he was aware, I told him I am already 25% cheaper than everyone else, how much more did he want me to discount... he then proceeded to hand me $75
so I think my pricing model is going to take some time for folks to get used to, but it is a good model for me
that's a great model. Haggling is over rated. Do you have any signage letting customers know that the price marked is the best price?
also-- what about people who try to bundle fa few books to see if they can get a little break? I'm assuming you say no to that.
yes, I had some small signs on my raw that price is firm/as marked (just on the $500 and under books, as 7-10% is not enough margin to "negotiate"...
now, on the bigger $ books, a single purchase is at sticker...if someone bundles multiple books together that it makes sense to work a little on the price, and I have the margin, then of course, I will try... that actually did happen with one customer...he bought more than 25K worth of books, and a few of them I did have more than my normal 7-10% margin so I reduced for him...
ultimately, my goal is that in any sale, if both parties are not happy, then it is not a sale worth doing...
Excellent stuff. Thanks for your candor