That's probably more true for simple products like toasters. For products where each one is almost always unique (has tons of optional choices, details) you can't easily shop around and compare apples to apples. You end up narrowing down to a few _mostly acceptable_ products in your vicinity, and then negotiating among those few.

To add: it's already difficult for a dealer to overcharge because even for complex/unique products we do have stats.

I just don't like the circular dependency of it. Companies follow an industry-wide stat to push all the people into preset salary tiers. The industry-wide stat is based on these same companies. The only way out is when some "rogue" companies allow some "rogue" employees to negotiate, and push the industry upwards.