Financing Bait and switch is an old term, which is actually a tactic that sales people have been using for decades. The tactic, however, has always been condemned because it is quite fraudulent and dishonest in nature. They first lure you into the showroom by false or misleading advertisements. But, when you visit them, you are told that you don’t qualify for the special offer as shown in the advertisements and the salespersons will try to sell you the product anyway.
For example, the advertisements may tell you that a certain product (that is very popular and highly in demand) is available at half price*, where * means ‘conditions apply’. They do not disclose these conditions in their ads. Now, when thrilled with the alluring offer, you visit their showroom, the first question that you ask is if you meet those conditions and qualify to get that product at half rate.
The sales people will do their calculations (which are nothing but a shrewd attempt to keep your interest alive). They will take a lot of time in doing the math. They can even ask their senior executive to make an impression on you that they are working very hard to make sure that you qualify. They may even send you to the manager’s cabin, where you will be “educated” further on the eligibility criteria. After all this drama, they will tell you that you don’t qualify for the offer, but they will still offer you some discount and you must purchase the product.
This way, bait and switch is nothing but a marketing tool that is shrewdly brilliant. Zero percent auto financing is probably the best example of bait and switch. It is a known truth that only 5% of all car buyers genuinely qualify for this type of financing. Others who do qualify end up overpaying for the product. That’s because the sellers try to make up for the lost finance charges by jacking up the price of the product. Since you are super thrilled with the offer, you often overlook such shrewdness.
This way, by advertising the zero-percent auto financing offer, the main objective of the sellers is to lure you into the showroom. Once you are there, they will play all their selling techniques to sell the product to you anyway – by hook or by crook, they will make sure that their bottom line (that is- profit) is achieved.