At some point in our lives, those of us fortunate (or otherwise) enough to buy a new car have been subtly strong-armed by those pesky/suave car salesmen in their sharp-but-tacky suits…the name of the game being to sell as many overpriced and probably unnecessary “options” or “upgrades” to the baffled car shopper as can be justified by their smooth talk and prepared sales pitches.

Then we have the world of the OEM bizjet salesperson. This is a whole other league with dollar figures tacked onto those optional equipment items (options) that would shock all but the very wealthiest (and some might say, most gullible) bizjet shoppers.

The base price of any high-end Gulfstream / Bombardier / Dassault product can be significantly inflated by the additional cost of the heated stone galley flooring, or the ventilated and heated VIP seat (oh… you want all eight/twelve club seats ventilated and heated ?…kaaaching ! Or the ultimate, the shower installation ! (think…a one-time thirty second exposure to a shower head which pumps water slower than a national park drinking fountain)

The unsuspecting buyer is presented with a menu of options, accompanied by a cost and weight annotation (BTW, no one ever looks at the “weight” column).

Some of the options are “must haves” but many are of questionable value. Do you really need a Calacatta marble countertop  in the galley?

Of course, your average captain of industry, plus wife, plus entourage become engrossed in the options selection process, especially if the OEM is serving champagne and hors d’oeuvres.

The OEM salesperson has a captive audience and this scenario is commonly known as a “captive audience”.

After the buyer completes his/her selections from the options menu, the pricing game begins…in an attempt to soften the blow to the fiat pile, the OEM’s price some of the options, while others (in an apparent act of OEM generosity) are noted as “no charge”.

This is called “legerdemain” in card shark circles. Please take a moment to glance through the charges on this actual optional equipment list (the OEM’s identity has been redacted so as to save the obvious embarrassment). There are some arguably big numbers in there amid some of the scattered “no charge” annotations.

The “no charge” annotations are only possible because the prices of some of the options are inflated so as to “even out” the overall costs…can anyone fathom why a hinged shelf in a baggage compartment (much like the garden shed variety) should cost a whopping $31,000 ?…or a cockpit printer for a mere $29,000 ?…or an electric kettle for $5,000 ?…QED.

At some point, the inevitable resale occurs. The agent responsible for the resale will doubtless tout the number of (and retail cost of) the optional equipment.
However, much like a luxury automobile or the super-yacht world, the  “options” value shrink to (sometimes) zero and become giveaways.

There is possibly some residual value if the resale occurs quite soon after initial delivery from the OEM, but the needle won’t move too far and those indulgences quickly resemble a cockpit-printer-shaped boat anchor.

Any challenge to the OEM’s reference their optional equipment pricing structure is usually met with the predictable response….”oh well, we have to cover the cost of compliance with the FAA/EASA regulations, systems compatibility and safety testing”…”phooey” !

We advise Aviatrade’s clients to buy their electric kettles…at Walmart !

The $5,000 electric kettle