[Potroast]

When I bought my Tacoma, I paid $50 over so-called "invoice" price. This is a crock, because I know that the sales people at Toyota of Orange (where I bought it) get $75 commission for any vehicle sold. If I paid $50 over the dealer's cost, they lost money -- which they surely would not have done.

Through a reliable source within Toyota Corporate, I found that Toyota of Orange, along with any decent Toyota dealer is paying roughly $8000 below the supposed "invoice" price when all is said and done. So I got a great deal on an awsome truck, and Toyota of Orange made roughly $7925 on me. Worked out great for both of us.

The point of this is that the price that someone "pays" for something isn't neccessarily the monetary figure changing hands.

As another example, I worked at a company that sold computer components. We were owned by a wholesaler. The invoices and packing slips we got with each daily shipment had the normal "wholesale" price on them. Inventory was calculated with these. Margins were set with these. However, since we were owned by the parent wholesaler, we actually only paid the COST of the item -- not wholesale. I equate this similar to any large car dealer with good ties to corporate.