Interesting comparison to car dealerships, Sanlmar.

You're probably right. I've seen the car dealership model change over the years, and even when I made my last auto purchase in 2015, I was informed by the sales manager that "we'll probably be at a fixed price model by the time you come back to buy your next car."

He wasn't trying to sell me anything further. Just making conversation.

The end of the car dealership era isn't a good thing for the smart Jew consumer. Much like a dream coming true comes at the expense of other dreams having been shattered, a good deal comes at the expense of someone else getting a bad deal before/after you.

Fixed price models punish the good negotiator, and help the bad negotiator.

But it's beyond the pricing model. I agree that the dealership model is antiquated. It came into existence when you couldn't go online, and when there was no way to price shop without physically visiting each dealership. Nowadays, it's needless overhead -- the expensive showroom, the mostly-useless salesmen on commission, the bureaucracy between the dealership and the manufacturer...

A lot of that can be cut out. In fact, that's what I've done the last few times I've bought a car, by simply calling in and speaking to the sales manager, and refusing to visit until the deal is done.

Eventually the dealerships will all be branches of the manufacturer, and there will be no commissioned sales jobs. There will be -- and already are -- more sales done online, where the buyer never even visits the dealership.

It's coming.