The displayed price of a piece of equipment holds a lot of power. Just having a clearly displayed price at all goes a long way. Many customers don’t like having to inquire about the price of a product and enter into a conversation with a salesperson before they are ready to talk business. Getting the sale is all about making the customer comfortable in the buying process, and displaying your prices for them to see helps their comfort level greatly.
Let me ask you this: Do you ever buy a ticket for a sporting event or musical performance, and when all is said and done you are paying almost 50% of the initial displayed price in fees and taxes? Or how about a larger-ticket item like a car? It sure adds up at the register, and that irks me. Irks me bad.
I understand that displaying a smaller price attracts more buyers. However, does the shock at the register ever make them feel trapped? It does me. Granted, I almost always go through with the purchase, but I hesitate more with the next one. That level of trust that comes with a price displayed being the price paid is not there.
Perhaps consider tagging items with two prices: one price before all the taxes and fees, and the price they need to pay to walk out the door with your product. You can also consider having a conversation with the customer about the additional fees before they make it to the register. After all, trust is comforting too.
