I noticed that you chose not to quote the part of my post where I said:It is in perhaps poor taste but I was importing an anecdote from a different venue.
Specifically, a vendor mis-stating a published MSRP when specifically asked.
But since we're apparently all agreed that such a thing constitutes deceptive trade practices, there's little to argue about.
They can also ask the seller what the published MSRP is (assuming current production) and if the seller lies by inflating the figure by a factor of three while stating the number is a published factory MSRP, the buyer has been swindled. If he simply coughs up the funds without asking any questions, he's just paid the price for his ignorance. There's a big difference between the two.
Again, increasing a price through deception is called "swindling".
Increasing a price through simply asking for it is called market dynamics. One is illegal, the other isn't.
IMO, at least from a moral perspective, everyone, buyer and seller alike, have an obligation not to lie to each other.
How is this swindling? The buyer has no right to expect the seller to tell him the MSRP. If what you are suggesting happened, the seller is lying, and that is morally wrong, but to claim a mere lie is a crime is pushing it a bit.