One-price selling vs. negotiation: is one approach better than the other?

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Welcome to The Breakdown, an analysis of auto retail’s top trends, moves, and insights—in under 5 minutes.

The car business is splitting in two.

Some dealers have eliminated negotiation entirely. While others are doubling down on skilled deal-making.

Both camps are making healthy profit. But they're playing different games and offering distinct customer experiences.

Recently, I spoke to successful dealers from each model and here's what they revealed about one of the industry's biggest strategic divides…

Dealers are choosing between scaling volume or maximizing per-unit margin.

In 2015, Michael Wood watched his Toyota store shift to one-price selling. Camry deals that used to net $1,500 back of invoice turned into $2,500–$3,000 losses.

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“You have to have a highly competitive price. And it has to be so competitive that your competition will think twice about trying to take that deal. That's the expensive part of the transition,” he said.

Michael Wood

But over time, the store climbed from middle of the pack to #1 in their region post-COVID. Today, Wood runs the same group’s JLR store—still one-price.

The key: volume > margin.

Same for Ozark Chevrolet. Director Nate Brandt says front-end gross varies between $1,700-$2,500, but they're moving 200+ units monthly and generating half a million per year in variable gross.

How? Even if a dealer sells a new car at zero profit, the “whole transaction” (trade-in, F&I, fees, service) generates enough gross profit to make it worthwhile.

On the other hand, when Cody Eichorn arrived at Smart Auto Group in March, he found a store that had sold just 11 total units in February. And cars were sitting for over 200 days at static pricing.

So he made two key changes: negotiation-first selling and dynamic pricing updated every 48 hours.

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"What do we all go to the car dealer to do? Well, they've got it advertised for $20,000, but I bet I can get it from them for $18,000... It's just part of the mentality... that's what we've been trained to do our whole lives,” he told me.

Cody Eichorn

Instead of resisting that mindset, Eichorn embraced it, and as a result, the store broke records with 60 units in July. Used car front-end gross hit $2,554 per unit, and new cars averaged $1,175 front-end with $1,812 back-end.

The math works both ways—but the operational mindset is completely different.

One-price selling:

✅ Pro: Builds compounding customer loyalty that generates repeat business.

❌ Con: Risk of price wars to compete with online retailers or negotiation-based dealers.

Negotiation-based sales:

✅ Pro: Higher per-vehicle margins from skilled negotiations.

❌ Con: Risk of lost sales from frustrated customers.

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Sales teams are splitting into salaried brand ambassadors or master dealmakers.

Brandt pays salespeople a $1,800 monthly salary with escalating bonuses—16 cars get employees around $100K annually, while top performers make closer to $200K. Wood also moved to salary plus volume bonuses tied to units and customer satisfaction.

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But Michael Anderson, a one-price selling consultant, warns that when the model is first introduced, middle management often freaks out because they think their jobs are threatened (they're not, but they have to work differently).

Michael Anderson

He expects dealers to lose 15-17% of staff during the switch.

Traditional dealers, however, have an alternative perspective. Eichorn's salespeople focus on product knowledge and customer experience while management handles all negotiations.

And that takes training. More specifically, twice-weekly, 1.5-hour sessions covering everything from walkarounds to market positioning.

The upside: skilled negotiators can earn 20–30% more per sale than one-price staff. But the environment is intense, and turnover’s higher.

Both approaches can work, but they require building fundamentally different workforces with completely different skill sets.

One-price selling:

✅ Pro: Faster onboarding, lower turnover, and simplified commission structures that scale across rooftops easily.

❌ Con: Lower earning potential could drive away top performers, and limited skill development can stunt professional growth.

Negotiation-based sales:

✅ Pro: Higher earning potential that attracts top performers.

❌ Con: Creates a high-pressure environment that can increase burnout, and requires extensive training.

Customer journeys are being built for low-stress consistency or hands-on customization.

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Brandt starts every interaction with what he calls the "concept conversation." Before anyone looks at cars, he explains how their pricing works: "Have you guys heard of a best price? Do you guys understand how that works?"

Nate Brandt

The goal is eliminating anxiety upfront. No back-and-forth—no wondering if the person before you got a better deal on pricing.

And the process creates measurable loyalty. Brandt's top salesperson doesn't take fresh walk-ins anymore—his entire book runs on repeat customers and referrals. About 30% of their deals close remotely, with customers buying cars they've never physically seen.

But instead of order-taking, Eichorn's salespeople focus on personalizing deals. When a customer shows interest, they're not working backwards from a fixed price—they're working forward from value.

And his approach feeds customer expectations by creating what he calls the satisfaction of "winning"—something one-price stores simply can't offer.

One-price selling:

✅ Pro: Fosters a no-stress buying experience for time-pressed customers, and eliminates the fear of being "taken advantage of."

❌ Con: Removes the thrill some customers actually enjoy.

Negotiation-based sales:

✅ Pro: Personalized deals tailored to individual needs (trade-ins, financing, add-ons, etc.)

❌ Con: Can result in a time-consuming and combative negotiation process.

Bottom line: Both pricing models can make dealers healthy profits.

One-price dealers are betting everything on volume, efficiency, and customer relationships that build over time. Meanwhile, negotiation-based dealers are maximizing every single transaction through skilled deal-making and market-responsive pricing.

But customer acquisition costs aren't getting cheaper, and margins aren't getting fatter. And in 2025, the question isn't which approach makes more money today—it's which one positions dealers for the car business they want to be in tomorrow.