Last I've seen it was a guy employed by corporate. He sold Williams to tool stores and handled Snap-on for the schools and any other industrial/low profit accounts.
I kinda figured as much, no way a franchise driver could make a living selling like that unless they were subsidized anyway.
Definitely an incentive there to get them hooked. Even if you sell a student a pretty huge list (like that $4500 one) it's not going to be nearly complete, and since you gave them a deal and they already have a bunch of *your brand* tools, you're encouraging brand loyalty that'll likely bring plenty of future sales, and if not, you either still made a few bucks (and it's not like a guy that leaves the business is going to be warrantying a ton of busted tools) or didn't lose much at all for the chance. It's like crack dealers, mang!
Besides that, they "need" the tools, and it's not likely many would be buying much at or near retail while they're in school... meaning if they don't buy from you, they buy from someone else, and likely don't re-buy from you in the future. As long as they're making SOMETHING, that's more than making NOTHING.
Hell, my tool guys get that... I rarely pay MSRP, but they've figured out if they stuck to that, I'd rarely buy anything from them. I'd do without or find an alternative. But come down to a price that still lets you make a profit, and I'll gladly pay more than the alternative, to support a local small business and get better service.
