Wealth Reveals Higher Prices

Andrew Wilkinson shares his experience about how being wealthy or known as successful can lead to price discrimination and increased costs for services. He emphasizes the importance of having negotiation support to combat this effect.

Key Points:

• Personal Experience with Price Discrimination:

  • WiFi installation that should have been simple mesh network ended up costing tens of thousands of dollars
  • Office drapes quoted at $20,000 when similar items at IKEA cost $2,000
  • "When you're rich or people know you're rich, they will rip you off if they can"

• Business Solution:

  • Created "Dealmaker" company to handle negotiations
  • Focuses on negotiating:
    • Office leases
    • Furniture
    • Insurance
    • Various P&L expenses
  • Takes a percentage of savings as payment
  • Started with minimal investment (around $50k)

• Negotiation Challenges:

  • Most executives don't like negotiating
  • CEOs are focused on hitting large numbers, not saving small amounts
  • For business owners, small savings compound significantly
  • Time value trade-off: Many successful people will overpay to save time

• Solution Structure:

  • Uses trained negotiators who enjoy the process
  • Clients can simply CC Dealmaker on emails
  • Handles both one-off negotiations and retained services
  • Focuses on major expenses rather than small items
  • Aims to make negotiation expertise accessible to businesses

The core insight is that wealth can actually become a liability in transactions, making professional negotiation support valuable for protecting against price discrimination.