An extremely effective option you can employ is the old floor-model technique. The floor-model technique has two aspects. With aspect number one, you walk up to the refrigerator, examine it intensely while the salesman stares at you, and mutter, “I notice a little blemish here!”
The salesman replies, “I don’t see anything.”
You persist, “There seems to be a little nick … a tiny blemish on the side. In fact, as the light hits it, I notice there are multiple blemi on the side of the refrigerator. Is there no multiple blemi discount?”
What if there are no multiple blemi on the refrigerator? You can always make blemi. (I’m not covering ethics now. I’m dealing with options, even if I’m doing it tongue in cheek.) Remember the kid with the hockey stick and the puck? Have him work on his slap shot closer to the refrigerator.
Aspect number two of the floor-model technique is known as the ITD, short for internal-trauma discount. The implication is that there must be imperfections within a floor model. Perhaps they’re not visible to the naked eye, but they’re there. After all, people have been opening and closing that refrigerator’s door and fingering its trays and compartments for months. The floor model’s like a street walker who’s been around the block several times: one of the walking wounded, suffering from the internal stress of being manhandled. Because of this, you’re entitled to an internal-trauma discount, or standard ITD.