Is it ethical to charge different prices to customers in real estate?
I work in real estate sales, where we sell plots. I’m sharing a situation from my workplace to understand your perspective.
We usually quote ₹4,500 per square foot but negotiate down to ₹4,000, which is typically the best price we offer. However, a young customer (25 years old) recently visited our office. She had substantial savings, which she openly shared while discussing a loan with a bank officer who happened to be present. She also showed her bank statements and income to the banker and my boss, the sales manager.
Here’s the background:
- She mentioned that her family comes from a rural area and that her parents are not very educated.
- She said she had invested money from her parents in her brother’s business and was earning ₹2–3 lakhs every month as returns.
- She came alone to our office with a male friend who didn’t know much about real estate and said her brother and parents weren’t involved in her decision-making.
My boss observed all this and concluded that she was young, inexperienced, and lacked family support for the transaction. He sold her the plot at ₹4,450 per square foot, even though similar plots in the same layout with the same orientation and size have been sold for as low as ₹3,800.
When I asked my boss about the fairness of the price and transaction, he justified this by saying:
- She didn’t negotiate well and showed all her financial details upfront, which showed she had a lot of money. He even compared his financial situation at 25 years old to this young girl’s finances.
- By the time she finds out others got the plot for ₹3,800, it will be too late for her, and we likely won’t even be with the company.
- Fair pricing isn’t fixed—earlier we couldn’t sell above ₹4,000, but now that people are buying at ₹3,800, we’re building confidence to sell at ₹4,000 or more.
While this approach boosted revenue for the company, I feel conflicted.
What’s your take on this? Was it ethical for my boss to use her lack of negotiation skills, family support, and financial transparency to charge her more? How can businesses balance profitability with fairness, especially in situations like this?
Tbh If I was your boss. I would have done the samething, he has not done anything wrong as in fraud/ laxmi chit fund. Real estate is a bargainable industry. As a seller why would I not use full potential of the client. If the client has the potential to pay for the exaggerated amount why shouldn't I use its full potential or maybe try to exceed the potential of the client assessing the situation. If you are running a business you need to learn to earn money from the moment. Otherwise business is not for you sir.
There is no hard and thumb rule in doing business. Sometimes you had to sell in lower price to increase the demand. It's all part of business
There's nothing cunning or unfair in this. It is pure demand and supply. At quarter end, when you are struggling to meet sales targets, do your customers feel they are shortchanging you when you lower prices. If someone is willing to pay higher, why would you not charge him?
Considering she has money it's fair to assume she wouldn't mind splurging some extra than others. She did come at a time when Real Estate is at a peak. Had she been price sensitive, she shud have gone bargain hunting.
Businessmen are inherently cunning fellows, their profit comes out of their cunningness. Obviously there will be some good and ethical folks too out there, but by and large, most guys in business are always on lookout to play some deceit and earn higher profits. Ultimately it is all about making greater profits for them. So yes, what he did was wrong and unethical, but almost everyone in his place would have done the same.
