There's an old adage that says, "If you have to ask, you can't afford it". To be honest, there are tons of specialist industries where price tags are hidden in the seller's head far from the buyer's ability to easily compare if it fits within their monthly budget. For some of these "specialists" the value they provide is created because their work is strongly desired by a small number of potential buyers, however there are many "specialists" who just act as middle-men with slightly more connections than the average buyer so that they're able to buy low from non-commodity suppliers and sell high to the people who have goals that are more important than an affordable price.
As a consumer who values price while making my purchasing decisions... the fastest way you can convince me that I don't need your product is by making me "Request a Quote" for your services. Just like the adage suggests, in most situations I'll be just fine without the stupid overpriced "specialist" product that you're trying to sell. In a few years or with a little more searching today, comparable products will be available at transparent prices from retail chains I can easily drive to or access via the internet, and at that time I can figure out if stuff will fit in my budget or not.
I'd like to take this time to talk about three examples where prices are hidden (or not), and give my thoughts on the industries who are hiding them.
First up, there's an article on CNN today that talks about retail chain medical services. This is the answer to the question about whether you should get some prescription drug to fight your ear-infection. It turns out that retailers are more convenient and more transparent with their pricing than doctor's running offices from rented space in the ramshackle buildings that are frequently located far off the beaten trail of your typical commute. They're attracting customers who have common, non-life threatening conditions. Considering Pareto's Rule of 80/20... I'd predict that in 10 years retailers will be handling 80% of the medical industry, forcing tens-of-thousands of doctors to either get jobs at major hospitals or to find other lines of work. Gone will be the days of the "private medical office". And I say good riddance. The world doesn't need these self-inflated doctor's who charge $10k for a day of surgery and have better tans than the Hawaiian Tropic girls (little known fact: Hawaiian Tropic is owned by Playtex - the company whose primary product is insertable menstruation tubes).
Second up... mortgage brokers. Any company that requires me to provide my personal information to get a price quote is no good. Understanding that not all homebuyers are created equally and in light of the recent industry meltdown, I'm willing to acknowledge that it's impossible for them to tell me exactly what I'd be able to pay without a formal qualification. However, a smart industry would do more than providing meaningless lists of 5 "example" loans based on no other information other than the base price of the mortgage and the number of "points" that I want to buy. It'd be nice if these companies published the variables that they use to discriminate against customers. You only give out loans to customers with credit scores of 700 or above? You only give out loans to customers who can make a 20% down payment? Okay, great. Now go pound sand because you just eliminated me from your potential customer-base. But the fact is that they don't want to filter out this customer base because the jokers who shouldn't actually be buying from them are their bread and butter. "Yeah, we can give you a loan at no money down, but in 7 years you'll owe $40k in interest payments per year. You'll probably be able to sell for a huge profit before that ever happens, though, so don't worry about." No... actually they don't even bother telling you that last part. They just let you sign on the dotted line so they can collect their commission and meet their monthly sales numbers.
Last, I'm going to gripe about the cost of fixing capital goods. What is a "capital good", you ask? It's something sufficiently expensive that (a) can't be easily replaced, (b) you can't live without, and (c) maintenance cost becomes a larger and larger the longer you have it. The specific example I want to talk about is my car. Lately it's been making a rubbing noise whenever I've turned my steering wheel. My girlfriend diagnosed this as a power-steering fluid problem, but a trip to the dealership resulted in a recommendation to replace the Power Steering rack (approximately $1400). For the time being, they topped off my power steering fluid (which was apparently leaking a bit) and since then it has been running like new. My feeling is that the work they recommended is "going overboard" and that a respectable mechanic would be more up front with me instead of saying "Give us lots of money to fix this problem". Respectable mechanics will *begin* the discussion by talking about when they think something should be fixed and what the repercussions of not fixing them are. Anything that might cause my engine to seize up would get a higher preference than something that would make my air-conditioner ineffectual. There is a hierarchy of importance... and my feeling is that by skipping this discussion the dealership saleman was admitting that his recommendation would fit into the lower end of that hierarchy. However, now I am in the position where I have to do research about power steering racks (on the 2004 model Nissan Sentra) to determine what to do. Unfortunately, I doubt I'll find convenient prices for this service without also finding a mechanic who's too busy to actually fix the problem (the one thing honest mechanics don't have is time to fix your issue... because they're too busy working on all the other jobs in their shop).
