bifcake
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2002
- Posts
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Quote:
Even in this scenario, I don't see an ethical dilemma. It is in the store's self-interest to sell to the potential customers. As a consumer, it is your perrogative to "shop for the best deal". That's the process in which you engage when auditioning equipment in the store. If it's a problem for the store to invest the kind of time and effort to "help" their potential customers, perhaps they should set up a self-help kiosk, where people can audition equipment without the help of a salesman. In this way, there is minimal amount of time and effort involved in the sales process unless the customer is serious about purchasing the equipment, in which case, they will ask for help and escalate the sales process into phase 2.
With regard to BM costs, the online costs aren't trivial. It takes a lot of time, money and effort to design an effective web site. It takes a lot of time to explain to the programmer how you envision the site, the programmer(s) will charge you a lot of money for development. The graphic designer/artist will charge for the right look and feel of the site. Transaction processing companies take a chunk off every sale. There's the cost of hosting a site. There's revenue lost if the site is down, etc, etc. So, it's not accurate to say that the online costs are trivial as opposed to BM costs. They may be lower, but they may not be. It really depends. Besides, does it really matter to a consumer what the retailer's costs are? Let the seller beware. That's why they're in business.
Originally posted by yage The hifi business is kinda funny... The ethical dilemma arises not from pure economics, but from our intentions. If I enter a hifi shop to audition equipment with absolutely no intention of purchasing that equipment from their store, then I have willfully deceived the store owner. I have essentially robbed them of their time and effort. In the end, if the negotiated price comes out to a fair price of the equipment plus my estimated cost of their salesmanship, then I'll buy from the store. That would seem to be fair for everyone involved wouldn't it? Then again, whoever said capitalism was fair? |
Even in this scenario, I don't see an ethical dilemma. It is in the store's self-interest to sell to the potential customers. As a consumer, it is your perrogative to "shop for the best deal". That's the process in which you engage when auditioning equipment in the store. If it's a problem for the store to invest the kind of time and effort to "help" their potential customers, perhaps they should set up a self-help kiosk, where people can audition equipment without the help of a salesman. In this way, there is minimal amount of time and effort involved in the sales process unless the customer is serious about purchasing the equipment, in which case, they will ask for help and escalate the sales process into phase 2.
With regard to BM costs, the online costs aren't trivial. It takes a lot of time, money and effort to design an effective web site. It takes a lot of time to explain to the programmer how you envision the site, the programmer(s) will charge you a lot of money for development. The graphic designer/artist will charge for the right look and feel of the site. Transaction processing companies take a chunk off every sale. There's the cost of hosting a site. There's revenue lost if the site is down, etc, etc. So, it's not accurate to say that the online costs are trivial as opposed to BM costs. They may be lower, but they may not be. It really depends. Besides, does it really matter to a consumer what the retailer's costs are? Let the seller beware. That's why they're in business.