Subtitle: communication etiquette.
I had a very brief career with roadracing motorcycles. Fun, perfect young person’s sport. Part of youth’s inherent appeal is naiveté. One motorcycle shop I worked in, the owner used a term I liked and I’ve stuck to, “Racer’s Discount.”
Seems like everyone fancies himself (maybe herself these days), a racer, and as such, we all figure we should get a discount. The term originated from potential customers wandering into the store, claiming to be an expert, claiming a connection (real or imagined), and professing an inherent entitlement to circumventing the normal retail channel.
This came up because there was the friend-of-friend who wanted a special family discount, available only for friends-of-friends. An off-season discount. Off of what season? I’m not sure.
One motorcycle shop I worked in had a stringent pricing policy: take the factory-listed cost of the part, double it, add ten percent of that price, and then it gave the retail price. Commission was paid out of that extra ten percent, part of it going to sales, and part to the sales manager. Good gig. Any discount was taken from the sales’ commission. Weren’t many discounts. I’m figuring the parts were probably bought at a discount from the “listed” wholesale price, too.
The term “racer’s discount” brought new life to the situation. Started a policy, “Racer’s discount,” just for the use of the shop’s name and the term? Retail plus twenty percent. Minus five percent, just to make them feel like it was good deal.
Ask for the friend-of-the-family discount. Same as the racer’s discount. Regular retail price, doubled, then I’ll happily knock off, say, 15%?