Salesmaster- I have to take issue with your post. As professionals, it's our job to educate laypeople about our industry. As an example- the term "Reconditioned"- what an example of a misleading term. To the customer it sounds like the unit has been rebuilt. An inexperienced buyer at a large company, the owner of a carpet store, etc can be easily mislead with this nomenclature.

You speak of bottom feeders- everyone wants a deal. Can you blame someone for trying to save a buck- we all do it. End users don't understand our business- if they did they'd be in our business. Do you understand the intricacies of why one carpet is more expensive than another? Probably not- you rely on the salesman to educate you in the world of carpet. And- if you buy carpet on-line & get screwed, you have no one to blame but yourself. But, if the carpet was misrepresented as being something it isn't, shame on who sold it to you. This is my point.

If a end user wants to purchase a unit & has unrealistic expectations of the deal & some unscrupulous dealer takes advantage of that, it gives the entire industry a bad name. Having an industry standard with a code of ethics which an end user could use as a bench mark to measure his "deal" with would be beneficial for all. End users would understand that buying from a local source really is their best choice.

As for the on-line dealer, I doubt that they would risk a lawsuit in misrepresenting a unit if they were asked specific questions which they'd have to answer in the buying process. My experience has been that end users don't know what questions to ask, nor do they understand the importance of such questions- after all- a lift is a lift- isn't it?