[lug] CPU comparisons

[dio2002 at indra.com]

> Ok.  You and I disagree on what honesty is.  For me, if they list an
> item at $250 and they sell it to me at $250, it is an honest price.
>
> If I know that I can get it for $50 elsewhere, I may think they are
> crazy or greedy, but I don't think they're dishonest.
>
> As a matter of fact, the "value" of an item is SET by how much you can
> get someone to pay for it.  You can't say a set of rails is worth $50 if
> someone is willing to pay $250 for it.  It's only worth $50 to you,
> maybe.  If enough people pay $250 for it, its economic value IS $250.

Off topic but thought I'd chime in.  Use whatever terms you want.  You may
disagree on what dishonesty or 'willing' is.  But I would imagine that
people aren't always happy or even willing to pay for it but just do.  If
you buy a dell server and only dell rails work with it, you don't really
have a choice do you?  That's not really willing.

And unless one knows exactly what they want and buys these things on a
regular basis, shopping for a server can take some time.  Time is money. 
And time is frustration for your average purchaser.  Even those with
knowledge on the subject.

The time factor is key.

Lets say you've already invested many hours searching through what I feel
are Dell's misleading and confusing categories to try and configure the
system you want.  What I mean by this is I've seen virtually the same
exact systems except for labeling and maybe a slight change in a component
under separate home and business categories in the past that were priced
more expensively in one or the other for no good reason other than to
confuse.  The configurators don't save bookmark titles so if you're trying
to go back and compare that wastes more time.

You've spent the time to make your choice and are finally ready to pull
the trigger and buy the darn thing.  Often it's only then that you
remember the rails!  You figure they can't be more than $50. Surprise.
$250 per the example in this thread.

You decide you don't want to give dell your money but you've already got x
amount of time invested in the deal.  To start shopping over again just
isn't an option.  You've invested a lot of time.  You need the system now.
 You say f*ck it.  You drop your money and promise never to buy from dell
next time and learn to price those rails early on.

Lesson learned.

My thought is that the uninitiated get duped by this stuff.  It's a scam
and the word 'willing' as in people are 'willing to pay' doesn't really
equate.

I like the idea of choice.  Give me the option to purchase a $50 pair of
your lesser rails versus forcing me to buy a single proprietary $250 set.

Sure everybody uses these techniques but it's crap and I hate it.  
Marketing psychology 101 will prove that there is 'willing intent' behind
these methods to deceive the customer.  The fact that the price is listed
somewhere at the bottom of the list really doesn't have anything to do
with honesty.  That sounds like a lawyer talking to me.

It's the same for coupons and rebates.  Just price the the thing for what
I should buy it for and not make it difficult.

Some will disagree.  Whatever.  Just because it is the way it is doesn't
mean it's right or should be.

> If I can get someone to pay me a $300/hr consulting fee, it isn't
> dishonest even if you're doing exactly the same or better work for $100.

I'm not sure I agree with that sentiment unless you charge all clients the
same rate and not just the ones that you think you can sucker.  I
personally wouldn't want to do business with you.   Focus on the 'intent'
of your statement to see where I'm coming from.

After all, how would you honestly feel about the guy that charged you $300
when he charged your buddy $100 for the same service?

What would that do for your business if you're other clients found out you
were doing this?

I think you should charge what you think you're worth and leave it at
that.  Treat people the same in life as in business and hope for the best.