So the people who set these things up get paid to put asses in seats. Not whether you actually buy. They just create opportunities for the sales people. My folks would find one of these people and use him/her to set up presentations all over whatever town we were in. Those people knew what we were doing because my parents would be upfront with that person about it. They would ask that they be given cash at the end of the presentation and if the presenters were the type to renege, they would find another person to set up their presentations. They also always checked with the salesman at the beginning of the presentation that they were aware of the agreed upon sum.

Obviously, they never want you to leave with $500 and you do have to get a little firm with them. One story that we frequently tell at holidays is when my folks were flat out told that they would not be given whatever was promised to them just 60 minutes prior. My very sweet and mild mannered mother was quiet while my dad argued with an increasingly rude sales man. My mother erupted on the middle of the sales floor and points in his face while yelling "This is very unprofessional!" All of the other couples in the sales room stop listening to their sales pitch and turn to look at the scene my mother is creating. The sales manager came running over with the cash and ushered us outside as fast as he could. We get outside and my mother turns and smiles at my father and they just lost it in a fit of laughter. We called my mom "Joe Pesci" for the rest of the trip because it reminded us of Goodfellas.

But yeah, sometimes you have to be a little persistent. They try to compromise with you but they cave pretty fast.