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Morals and ethics in sales

abc123

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Lets say you are a jewler. You know how much your competitors are selling the same product. You build rapport and trust with your customer and convince him/her that your price (a much higher price) is a good price and they purchase the jewelry. You make more money than what your competitor would have.

Is this right?
 
Lets say you are a jewler. You know how much your competitors are selling the same product. You build rapport and trust with your customer and convince him/her that your price (a much higher price) is a good price and they purchase the jewelry. You make more money than what your competitor would have.

Is this right?

You're presuming I would do something I wouldn't do. If I KNEW I didn't have a competitive price, I wouldn't sell to anyone based on that premise. When I was in sales, I focussed on quality and service. Never price. People who were trying to find the cheapest price were never my target market. There's ALWAYS somebody promising a cheaper price - even when they're lying.
 
Lets say you are a jewler. You know how much your competitors are selling the same product. You build rapport and trust with your customer and convince him/her that your price (a much higher price) is a good price and they purchase the jewelry. You make more money than what your competitor would have.

Is this right?

I think it boils down to whether it is a fair price and whether you are being deceptive. If you are jacking the price up in order to make more money, then it's probably not a fair price; when you tell your customer that your price is a good price, you are lying. That is unethical. However, if your competitors are selling it for cheaper because they are part of a huge chain and rely on volume for their profits whereas you are a boutique shop and really need to get the most out of every sale, then I think there's nothing unethical about this.



[EDIT]I like what MaggieD had to say. If you aren't competing based on price, then that shouldn't be brought up as a selling point. That's the safest way to remain ethical.
 
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Lets say you are a jewler. You know how much your competitors are selling the same product. You build rapport and trust with your customer and convince him/her that your price (a much higher price) is a good price and they purchase the jewelry. You make more money than what your competitor would have.

Is this right?
It could be. If it costs me more to stock and sell the product than my competitor, I should charge more to cover those costs.
 
would you have the same thoughts if you were "negotiating" a higher price (as opposed to "telling")? like making it look like a good price?

what if the jewelry was at retail price and you are just offering less of a discount than your competitors?
 
I think it boils down to whether it is a fair price and whether you are being deceptive. If you are jacking the price up in order to make more money, then it's probably not a fair price; when you tell your customer that your price is a good price, you are lying. That is unethical. However, if your competitors are selling it for cheaper because they are part of a huge chain and rely on volume for their profits whereas you are a boutique shop and really need to get the most out of every sale, then I think there's nothing unethical about this.



[EDIT]I like what MaggieD had to say. If you aren't competing based on price, then that shouldn't be brought up as a selling point. That's the safest way to remain ethical.

would you have the same thoughts if you were "negotiating" a higher price (as opposed to "telling")? like making it look like a good price?

what if the jewelry was at retail price and you are just offering less of a discount than your competitors?
 
Business is business. There is no rules and ethics but there is logic. For example if you believe selling guns to a country will lead to them turning around and blowing you up, maybe you should not sell them guns.
 
Lets say you are a jewler. You know how much your competitors are selling the same product. You build rapport and trust with your customer and convince him/her that your price (a much higher price) is a good price and they purchase the jewelry. You make more money than what your competitor would have.

Is this right?

If the customer were a regular customer, no way would I risk them leaving by charging them more. It would break their trust in me. Any Joe Schmoe off the street that I may never see again, I'll charge full price. But I wouldn't risk a good customer over being a little greedy.
 
would you have the same thoughts if you were "negotiating" a higher price (as opposed to "telling")? like making it look like a good price?

That doesn't make a difference.

what if the jewelry was at retail price and you are just offering less of a discount than your competitors?

"Retail price" (or MSRP) is a marketing term. It has no real meaning. Take stores like Men's Warehouse, for example. Look at their retail prices then go online and try to find any of the things they sell being sold for that price; you won't find it. The business model of such stores is to mark things up and then offer sales that sound like ridiculous discounts, but when you research the actual prices of the things they are selling, you discover that no one has ever sold it for MSRP, everyone always sells it for half that price. Do the same for Invicta watches; same deal.

Look at this watch, for example: Amazon.com: Invicta Men's 6983 Pro Diver Collection Chronograph Blue Dial Black Polyurethane Watch: Invicta: Watches
The retail price on it is nearly $800. Amazon is selling it for only $124!!!!omg...they are practically giving it away!!!

Now go to try find someone trying to sell that watch for over $200. You'll have a hard time finding anyone who does that. The watch is actually worth somewhere in the $124-$200 range as that is what everyone sells it for. The $800 MSRP is a fantasy.

MSRP is a marketing term. It doesn't mean anything.
 
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there's a sucker born every minute, it's 2015, if you cant be bothered to do the 5 minutes of google research on a product you're interested in, you deserve to be screwed.
 
I recall the days of phone calls from telemarketers and as I grew older I believed that that was perhaps the lowest group of people on earth. I had a guy call me telling me to buy gold and he got so pissed he ran me down my family down to the point that it became comical. As he was so irate I then told him I would be interested only to say "I changed my mind" after he was counting his commission and I hung up. He called back swearing up a storm and I hung up again and that was that. Any time I deal with sales people that I believe are on commission I battle them on price and it rarely fails.
 
I recall the days of phone calls from telemarketers and as I grew older I believed that that was perhaps the lowest group of people on earth. I had a guy call me telling me to buy gold and he got so pissed he ran me down my family down to the point that it became comical. As he was so irate I then told him I would be interested only to say "I changed my mind" after he was counting his commission and I hung up. He called back swearing up a storm and I hung up again and that was that. Any time I deal with sales people that I believe are on commission I battle them on price and it rarely fails.


My husband always drops his voice to his low, sexy voice, and he asks the telemarketer, no matter what gender, "Hey, baby. What are you wearing?" He gets um -- more and more risque, until they get embarrassed and hang up.
 
My husband always drops his voice to his low, sexy voice, and he asks the telemarketer, no matter what gender, "Hey, baby. What are you wearing?" He gets um -- more and more risque, until they get embarrassed and hang up.

Give them to a three year old, and tell them it's SANTA.
 
Lets say you are a jewler. You know how much your competitors are selling the same product. You build rapport and trust with your customer and convince him/her that your price (a much higher price) is a good price and they purchase the jewelry. You make more money than what your competitor would have.

Is this right?
In every bargain or contract you make there is one person that has more knowledge about the deal than the other side or has more experience in closing deals, but that’s, for the most part, doesn’t give us the right to breach the contract or cancel the deal .
 
I will take 2 medium done morals and one blue rare ethic please?
 
Lets say you are a jewler. You know how much your competitors are selling the same product. You build rapport and trust with your customer and convince him/her that your price (a much higher price) is a good price and they purchase the jewelry. You make more money than what your competitor would have.

Is this right?
In business the only "right" or "wrong" is what is legal or illegal. It's a jungle out there and (almost) anything goes.
 
In business the only "right" or "wrong" is what is legal or illegal. It's a jungle out there and (almost) anything goes.

I own a business and I disagree completely.

But then again, I would have to live with myself if I were a sleazebag.
 
Lets say you are a jewler. You know how much your competitors are selling the same product. You build rapport and trust with your customer and convince him/her that your price (a much higher price) is a good price and they purchase the jewelry. You make more money than what your competitor would have.

Is this right?

it depends on how you went about it.

did you lie or embellish as to why this is at a higher rate?

if you can charge a higher price than your competitor without lying or deceiving the customer then you did nothing wrong.
 
would you have the same thoughts if you were "negotiating" a higher price (as opposed to "telling")? like making it look like a good price?

what if the jewelry was at retail price and you are just offering less of a discount than your competitors?

what is your point exactly? I don't have to offer the same price as my competitors if you don't like the price then go to them.
they might not warranty the product as well or they provide a worse experience but you are free to go to them.
 
In business the only "right" or "wrong" is what is legal or illegal. It's a jungle out there and (almost) anything goes.

I am in business (self employed handyman) yet do not feel that way at all. I prefer to do quality work at very competitve prices rather than to try to maximize my profit on each job. That way my business reamains successful by word of mouth alone and I have very few bids refused.
 
I own a business and I disagree completely.

But then again, I would have to live with myself if I were a sleazebag.
It may not sit well with your business model but that's pretty much beside the point. The discussion is about "right" and "wrong", which can also be seen as "fair" and "unfair". (if you disagree with that substitution you can change fair and unfair to right and wrong below - it shouldn't change the discussion much, if any.)

Stop and think about exactly how we would determine what a "fair" profit margin is. Is it "fair" if you're making more than a median income? Is it "fair" if you're in the top 1% of all income? Where exactly is this line between fair and unfair and who or what makes that decision?


I am in business (self employed handyman) yet do not feel that way at all. I prefer to do quality work at very competitve prices rather than to try to maximize my profit on each job. That way my business reamains successful by word of mouth alone and I have very few bids refused.
The discussion isn't about any person's (or company's) business model.

The above applies to you as well. What is right and wrong and who or what makes that determination?
 
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It may not sit well with your business model but that's pretty much beside the point. The discussion is about "right" and "wrong", which can also be seen as "fair" and "unfair". (if you disagree with that substitution you can change fair and unfair to right and wrong below - it shouldn't change the discussion much, if any.)

Stop and think about exactly how we would determine what a "fair" profit margin is. Is it "fair" if you're making more than a median income? Is it "fair" if you're in the top 1% of all income? Where exactly is this line between fair and unfair and who or what makes that decision?


The discussion isn't about any person's (or company's) business model.

The above applies to you as well. What is right and wrong and who or what makes that determination?

I make that determination. I fully understand that prices (for the "same" thing) vary. Just because something is legal (or not illegal) does not make it right (or not wrong). A business may have to charge more (for a given product/service) if they have higher overhead but there is still no cause to say that makes their higher price into a "good" price.
 
would you have the same thoughts if you were "negotiating" a higher price (as opposed to "telling")? like making it look like a good price?

what if the jewelry was at retail price and you are just offering less of a discount than your competitors?
Normally I would only ask for the price I expect it to be worth. If the customer is very rich on the other hand, I may up the price but then I would also give them first-class service. That makes them happy and I get more money, so I'm happy too.

As the owner of two private businesses I treat my customers with fairness.
I believe the consumer of the future also insists on ethical fairness.

That's not the same thing as communism, however.
 
I make that determination. I fully understand that prices (for the "same" thing) vary. Just because something is legal (or not illegal) does not make it right (or not wrong). A business may have to charge more (for a given product/service) if they have higher overhead but there is still no cause to say that makes their higher price into a "good" price.
Sorry for the late reply. In your last sentence you've introduced a new concept into the discussion, the subject of "good" vs "bad" price, which I take to be a consumer issue - not a question of right and wrong (morality). Obviously, a McD's in a ritzy part of town with lots of businesses (where real estate is expensive) will have to charge more for a Big Mac than the McD's down the street from me where there are "reasonable" land values. I don't think anyone would consider that "wrong".


The question I was asking wasn't about your prices but about pricing in general. If people believe that pricing practices can be right and wrong (as many in this thread seem to think) then my question still stands; "Who exactly determines what is right and wrong?" Essentially what we're talking about here is, "How much profit is too much profit?". While I personally believe income - for everyone - should be limited by our society's overall wealth, I know that most people don't believe that and I certainly don't expect my ideals to be realized in the near future. Given our current socio-economic system I don't believe anyone can reasonably argue that there is such a thing as too much profit. If you believe otherwise then I'm certainly willing to listen but I have as yet to hear a good argument against it.
 
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