Now, Night Owl, you are not just misunderstanding me you are deliberately trying to misrepresent what I have said. I stand by exactly what you have quoted, just not how you have chosen to paraphrase it.
My job is to get the customer to pay the highest price he is happy with. If they aren't happy with paying it, I haven't done my job because there will be no return sales. If I charge too little I'll make lots of sales but no profit.
At no stage did I state that I dislike them finding the lowest price I will sell for. I said that I didn't like them using one seller for information and then buying elsewhere for an insignificant saving. I even stated that if the saving is significant I have no problem with it. You quoted me on it. Read the quote properly, I take the blame if they do that as I don't know my customer well enough.
I have no objection to them trying to find the lowest price I am willing to sell for, but when they do I consider all of the factors involved. These include but are not limited to: the cost of the goods; the market price; the time and effort invested or likely to be invested in the sale; the cost of holding stock; the potential changes in the cost of goods for future supply (customers expect fairly consistent pricing, not jumping around every time the $A moves); the quality of the goods versus the market average; administration costs; reliability; other market issues; etcetera, etcetera. It is clear to me that you really have no idea of the real cost of an item is to a company, as opposed to it's cost price, most people don't have to think about it. It's also why a lot of businesses fail, they don't know their real costs.
At the end of the day the customer always has the final say. If you aren't happy to buy at reasonably negotiated terms then don't. Walk away and buy somewhere else or do without. There is almost no instance when a customer is forced to buy at the sellers terms. You can always choose not to buy and the consequences of that choice are yours also.
You may like to play the poor little victim buyer who is taken advantage of by the mean, nasty seller. It just doesn't work that way. If you spend too much then it's because you made the decision to do so, not the seller. He has no power in the transaction, the power lies within your needs and desires and your ability to control them. The only person you can be victim to is yourself.
Only you can make the decision as to what you value. If you want something now and are not happy about paying extra to the guy who has stock then the choice is yours. Buy it and get over the money or wait and save yourself the few bucks. Don't expect both, that's called being greedy.
I can see that you choose not to see my side of the argument. I certainly understand where you're coming from as I have allowed my emotions to override my common sense on a few purchases. But that only makes me upset at myself, not the retailer. I choose to take that power upon myself. I am no victim.
As for the quote, I like it and have often heard it directed at me. But I will always hold that the greatest fool is the one who keeps a closed mind. Might be Confucious who said that, don't know really. Perhaps you can help me oh wise owl?
Travis
PS - Sorry, rereading this it comes off a little nasty. That is not my intention at all. I guess debates can often come off that way.
