I guess I've been fortunate in that all my dealer experiences have been good... but other than the Mini, I also knew people there. Unfortunately due to bad blood between the dealer that I worked at that sells BMWs and BMW corporate, they did NOT get a Mini franchise offered to them, so I had to go outside the loop. But I had a very quick, easy, pleasant experience. There was no pressure to upsell the car, as I contacted them (via email) and already knew what I wanted.
We did have to sign off on any BMW/Mini-sanctioned extended warranty or service plans, which I was not pressured whatsoever to get, they just had to show them to us quickly, and have us sign off (took 10 seconds).
The Accent I bought for my in-laws I just gave them a credit card number over the phone, and picked it up the next day with the remaining sum in the form of a cashier's check. I never even talked to a salesperson, just the sales manager.
Dealers make very little off of [re]selling a new car. The manufacturer builds in a payment (you can call it a commission, whatever you like) to cover the service department's labor costs of the PDI, and any pre-sale cleanup (which on a new car isn't much). PDI is Pre Delivery Inspection, and it varies by model but involves things like removal of any protective coverings (Wrapguard, etc.), snapping on wheel covers or center caps, installing air dams and other low hanging trim that might interfere with transport, roof rails on some taller models that again may interfere with clearance on transports, sometimes coil spring compression limiters, lowering the overinflated air pressure in the tires and initializing things like TPMS, automatic pinch protection in windows, setting clocks, setting compass and telematics stuff where applicable, etc.
And often, if the salesperson does not get a demo, or they pass on getting one, they will get a higher base draw. And if it is a "commissionless" sales, that base draw is ALL they get anyway (otherwise known as a salary). There isn't anyone at any dealership (both real and non-existent ones) that is there working for free. It's called capitalism. Tesla is no different. They produce a product, they sell a product, and each individual along the line from the folks at the defunct resurrected NUMMI plant in California putting them together, to the transportation people, to the people that PDI them, to the people that deliver them, etc. are all earning a paycheck. It isn't a not-for-profit organization (Elon's exploits alone should be proof positive of that!).
I've been in and around the automotive world in some form since I was a teenager, and I know SO MANY people in so many places in that world. They are all in it to make money, and how they do it may vary slightly based on what they think their intended consumer demographic will go for. Since "Tesla people" seem to be a pretty tech-heavy bunch, they're going to slant towards that. But I'm sure Tesla also wants to sell cars to people that don't use the internet, maybe don't do anything on social media, may not even have a cellular phone. Just like Ford wants to sell F150s to people that do.
Now maybe this Tesla "Store and Gallery" is not a common type of establishment (I do not know). And maybe they realized their overall demographic here in Missouri was slanted towards people who wanted a more traditional interaction, so that's why. This is the "Show-Me" state after all. And maybe that's why they have so much inventory, because they DO handle the walk-in people who purchase cars. Some of you may be surprised that is still how quite a few new cars are still sold. They are not ordered. They are not "shopped" much. People walk in and buy one and drive it home. All in the same day. That's why a big dealer inventory offering a larger selection is going to work best for those situations.
I've done both. I special spec ordered this Mini. It did not exist until I ordered it. Three months to the day later, we drove it home. But I also bought a new F150 in 1993, and I was going to buy one that day I had decided. Luckily for me, Dave Sinclair Ford right here local was (and may still be) the largest Ford retailer in the central region from Canada to the Gulf, and since what I was after was a pretty common package at the time (XL trim, 4.9L, 5sp, regular cab, long bed, 2WD) is was simply a matter of picking out what color I wanted, and Dave Sinclair had literally at least one of each in that configuration (they had over 200 F150s on their lot at that time). I picked one out, drove it home less than 30 minutes later.
Now on the no haggling part, I have to think given the cost of these Teslas that they are indeed a fairly profitable car line for the company, and that just because no "pressure" was felt in the sales process doesn't mean they didn't make more money off the sale of a $50k unit than Lexus would off the sale of one of their $50k units. In fact, they may make SO much profit, that is why they are not super concerned about any trade ins, which are usually a cash cow and are often a double or triple profit maker for any dealer. Especially now, where the used car market is bananas crazy with markups. We're a dealer here (at least boss likes to play one... sort of more a broker), and he's not messed with any sales in over a year now because of it. Too competitive, and he likes money so he won't bother until it has settled back down, which it might not ever.
Speaking of Lexus, I'll give an example (I know this well, because I worked there). A salesman may make $1000 off the sale of a new $50k GS. He takes the trade in car, also a GS (Lexus owners tend to be habitual) that is only three years old. The cost differential, what the trade in value the owner gets, and the value of the car retail back on the pre-owned lot, is $3000. Now this $3k profit gets eaten up... the used car department has to go through and evaluate it, and get it up to Lexus CPO standards. This might eat away $1k of that $3k. Now if that same salesman can sell that same CPO car, he'll get another half of whatever is remaining, so he will have doubled his commission intake on that same deal (the remaining $1k on the CPO sale will have gone to the dealer itself).
What would get these salesmen in trouble, would be that they'd get overzealous on these used car sales. They'd call a potential buyer up (they all had extensive contact lists) and "sell" this used car as a CPO, before the service department had a chance to actually do the certification! And then they'd get all bent out of shape if the car took more to get it to that level (like it needed brakes, or tires, or whatever) or worse, if it didn't meet the CPO at all because of some unseen past damage or something (Lexus is very picky about that). And that happened more often than it should have. Good salesmen would let the techs at least give the potential trade in a quick look over, especially if it was not a car we had sold new and normally serviced.
