paulswagelock
Well-Known Member
There are some legal reasons for a MSRP (retail price) especially when there is a third party distribution model (price fixing and collusion are some of the reasons). However, they are complicated/subjective and not the only driving factor. With many large ticket items, culturally people feel the need to negotiate. The US is actually conservative in this arena though. Cars, boats, large furniture purchases, etc. are priced at retail then people negotiate the deal they can tolerate (seller and buyer). In the Asia Pacific region, the expected discount is much higher and therefore the "list" price is also inflated even higher. In many world areas, just about everything is negotiated - cab fare, meat at the grocery store, clothing on the shelf....