How much mark-up is there for most items? Example... there's a 42" Plasma TV at Sam's Club for $2,499.86 - -



- - if Sam's can sell that item for $2400 - and that is a discounted amount from what other retailers can sell it for, then how much mark-up would Sam's Club have and still make a profit?


I've heard that jewelry is supposed to have a 100% mark-up, but is that true? or just an old wive's tale?  Let's say I wanted to buy a 2 carat ring, and the jewelry store in the mall has it listed for 3k, is the ring really only worth $1500?  - -



- - what if that same 2 carat ring is found at a wholesale store for $1500, how much more room to negotiate remains?

Depends....shitty answer but true.

I know that years ago, WalMart's "action alley" had only items that carried a minimum of 50% markup. Which is buying for a $1 and selling for $2.

Sam Walton didn't become the richest man in the world be selling things for close to what they cost him.

I dunno', I pay retail for everything. BUT I did buy a locket for my (now ex) wife a few years back at a local jeweler. It had a price of $220.00. I tried haggling. It worked. Got the shopkeeper down to $110.00. The shopkeeper was happy, I was happy.

So 100% on jewelry might be about right.

High end electronics (for the most part) and diamonds have incredibly high mark up. The thing with diamonds is that Debeers own something like 85 or 90 % of the world's diamonds market share and they can pretty much dictate the price to everyone, and why would the other 10 or 15% argue with them when they can make the same insane amount of profit.

With plasma TV's you're paying for the technology and the eliticism of it. As time goes on, plasma's should come down in price, especially if some new technology hits the market.

Now if you want to talk about insane markup, lets talk about the soft drink industry. A 10 oz soda in a cup that you pay $2 for at the bar doesn't even cost them a whole penny. Soda you get in a plastic bottle or can costs a little more to make because of packaging, and it also has to pass through the hands of extra distributers.

Fact is, the price will be what the market will bear.

Now if you find a wholesale ring that is half the retail price, I doubt there is much room to negotiate, but that doesn't mean you can't try.

The key to a succesful negoatiation is each party thinking they screwed the other. That is the motto I go by in haggling.

I don't haggle much!      

jewelry is marked up between 2-300%.  an exgirlfriend of mine's dad  owned a jewelry store.i used to get very expesive stuff very cheap, like a 500 dollaor watch for around a 100. its ridiculous the mark up on that shit.

The CURRENT market markup on diamonds and diamond jewelry is 200-500%.

The mark up on diamonds true long term value is incalculable... because without the De Beers cartel diamonds would be practically worthless.

Diamonds are neither rare or historically particularly valuable

Before the cartel a caret of diamonds had roughly the same value as a ounce of silver. Or $7-8 per caret in todays dollars… there is no reason to believe once the cartel breaks diamonds would not return to the pre cartel values.

I bought a Martin D-18 guitar yesterday, new from a dealer.  MSRP is $2398, internet price is $1799 at places like Musician's Friend and I bought it for $1500, including tax, with a case and the warranty.

The wife bought me the Omega Astronaut's Watch for under $1000 through some good connections (regional vice president's price)  at Kay's Jewelers.  Retail is $2800 or so and it's easily discounted $1000.  

Retail is for suckers.

Quoted: I bought a Martin D-18 guitar yesterday, new from a dealer.  MSRP is $2398, internet price is $1799 at places like Musician's Friend and I bought it for $1500, including tax, with a case and the warranty. The wife bought me the Omega Astronaut's Watch for under $1000 through some good connections (regional vice president's price)  at Kay's Jewelers.  Retail is $2800 or so and it's easily discounted $1000.

Not a bad deal on the Martin, I've seen people pay a lot more for the same guitar.

They may make nothing upfront. But many negotiated deals are done with rebates and program money.

let say you say I can sell 1000 tvs. if you reach the agrees goal then you get a certain amount of money back.

Car dealersdo it all the time. Some times they tell  you they are losing money on a car. They are telling you the truth.what they don't tell you is the goal that is set. If its the 31st and you need to sell 100 car for the month and if you sell 100 you get a milli0on dollars or nothing  and you are at 98 with 2 hours left would you lose money?

I recall reading somewhere that Sam's/Costco operates on a fixed markup on everything, something like 16% rings a bell.