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I will always ask for a better price. I don't make a pest of myself and I'm not obnoxious about it. I figure the worst thing that could happen is they say no.
On big ticket items I will always haggle. You can ask for a discount, 10% discount, or free delivery. Whatever works best for you.
For contractors I always pay cash and that is definitely worth a cut price. I have never not gotten a cash discount from a contractor. I once even got my house painted for a big screen TV that I didn't need anymore.
Just be nice about it and I think there is nothing wrong with asking for a discount.
I think that's wonderful! My FIL is the kindest, gentlest soul and he can get anyone to come down in their price! It's amazing to watch, especially since I am too wimpy to try it! Definately, will need to work on it, though!
Asking 10% off w/ a contractor is not unreasonable IMO. As long as it's reasonable they will usually go for it from my experience. We actually had some work done on our house and the cost was initially 3300... and we asked for 3K even and he agreed. We had the roof on one of rentals redone for $7K and the original estimate was $7700. We needed a sewer line to be redone on the same place but we asked the plumber to give separate estimates for separate jobs then asked for a 3 for the price of 2 (sewer line and upper unit we'll pay and you throw in the work in the lower unit... make sense?). It's hard to grind on the sewer line job since there's 5 people working on it and lots of hard labor going into it so that's why we brought up the easier (although still expensive) plumbing work. The sewer line work was 15K but I don't remember what the cost was for the lower unit but I know they redid pipes in the kitchen and bathroom along w/ replacing the gas valves in three areas.
When I go to downtown L.A., the shop keepers are ready to haggle (they are usually immigrants) and they practically wrap themselves around my ankles if I try to walk. I love haggling w/ them, they turn it into a sport.
You've haggled with Best Buy?????? Multiple times????? Could you please provide details. I'm just a little surprised because it's a chain store, and usually when it's a chain, people at the individual stores are not allowed to change the prices. They're set by the corporate office. Were they damaged items, perhaps? That might give the managers more leeway to change the prices.
In one case, it was after Christmas sales of flat-screen TVs and new models had just come out, so a lot of price competition in the area for the previous generation of models.
In the second case, again, lots of price competition in the area for washers & dryers, a few weeks after Christmas. Most stores offer to beat a written price from a rival, but it is not common to obtain one. One store refused to bargain despite an internet print-out of an advertised price, but the guy at Besy Buy took my word and made me a lower offer.
It was a smart move because on top of that I received award points and used them, spending something extra, a few weeks later on other items, to the loss of the guy in the other store who was too rigid.
Therefore, in the case of big ticket items that go on sale at several stores locally, you can bargain with the big box stores: I think the manufacturers sponsor the sales and give the stores leeway, so you have to go in and seek it and check their policies, the way the sales people on the floor are compensated.
Price haggling is done by the largest corporations, even to the detriment of vendors. Wal-mart is famous for demanding extras and wanting to pay less. Donald Trump didn't make his money by paying top dollar. The mark-up on some common items in other stores, such as furniture, is enough to make the list price unreasonable. Haggling goes on all the time. Knowing when to haggle, how to do it, and how far to take it to meet your needs is the key. The most "fair" price is a negotiated price.
Right before Christmas we went to Best Buy for a TV and were told that it was a set price, pricing was non-negotiable.
We do a lot of bartering down here. I do a lot of catering, so when it comes time for our "furry girl child" to have her teeth cleaned, yearly checkups, acupuncture, allergy pills etc., I bring the food and gets a clean bill of health, without me opening up my checkbook. This is definitely worth the price of a chicken.
As a matter of principle ( ego? ), I rarely ever pay the asking/posted price for anything. Paying full price makes me more uncomfortable than asking for a better deal. Not everything I ask for seems reasonable, yet my unreasonable offers are sometimes accepted. Don't get hung up on being reasonable. It could cost you $$$$. To overcome your dis-comfort in regard to ASKING for a better deal, next time you feel uncomfortable, don't resist it...FEEL it instead, and you'll discover that it won't make you melt. I guarantee that you'll live thru it. If you get embarassed or self-conscious, embrace it. Accepting those feelings WILL save you thousands of dollars during your lifetime, without the expense ( probably DEBT ) and time committment of a college degree. So what if you get a red face? Big deal. Enjoy the experience of having a red face.
TIP: Remember that you are ASKING for ( not demanding ) a better deal, and that ASKING allows space for the other person to say NO, which leaves you no worse off than you were before you asked. More importantly, ASKING also creates a POSSIBILITY for a better deal. If you don't ask, the POSSIBILITY for a better deal does not exist. When you start asking, you will be pleasantly surprised at how often the POSSIBILITY becomes a REALITY!
Last edited by CosmicWizard; 04-08-2009 at 11:18 AM..
As a matter of principle ( ego? ), I rarely ever pay the asking/posted price for anything. Paying full price makes me more uncomfortable than asking for a better deal. Not everything I ask for seems reasonable, yet my unreasonable offers are sometimes accepted. Don't get hung up on being reasonable. It could cost you $$$$. To overcome your dis-comfort in regard to ASKING for a better deal, next time you feel uncomfortable, don't resist it...FEEL it instead, and you'll discover that it won't make you melt. I guarantee that you'll live thru it. If you get embarassed or self-conscious, embrace it. Accepting those feelings WILL save you thousands of dollars during your lifetime, without the expense ( probably DEBT ) and time committment of a college degree. So what if you get a red face? Big deal. Enjoy the experience of having a red face.
TIP: Remember that you are ASKING for ( not demanding ) a better deal, and that ASKING allows space for the other person to say NO, which leaves you no worse off than you were before you asked. More importantly, ASKING also creates a POSSIBILITY for a better deal. If you don't ask, the POSSIBILITY for a better deal does not exist. When you start asking, you will be pleasantly surprised at how often the POSSIBILITY becomes a REALITY!
Thank you! Loved your post! Red face? That's me - I was voted Class Blusher many years ago! I still blush like crazy.
I understand what you are saying and am not too worried about me being demanding, at least not yet! Good advice - thanks!
You've haggled with Best Buy?????? Multiple times????? Could you please provide details. I'm just a little surprised because it's a chain store, and usually when it's a chain, people at the individual stores are not allowed to change the prices. They're set by the corporate office. Were they damaged items, perhaps? That might give the managers more leeway to change the prices.
You CAN haggle at the chains. My father used to do it successfully in the 70s and 80s at every chain in the NYC area: The Wiz, Tops, Brick Church, Newmark & Lewis, and countless seedy shops in bad areas of NYC. (Maybe he put all those chains out of business!)
I did it at Best Buy a couple of years ago for a stereo I wanted. It was a clearance item. It originally sold for $800, and it was on clearance for $299. I offered them $199, and made up a whole patter (It's on clearance, it's been here a while, etc.) The sales kid went to his supervisor, and ten minutes later, I had my stereo! I loved the stereo so much, that I took my receipt to another Best Buy and got a SECOND stereo for $199!
If you want an item that's marked up a lot, Best Buy will most likely negotiate. Department heads and managers do have some leeway to adjust prices. Will you get a Wii for $100, or for any discount? Not likely, when they're selling like crazy at MSRP. But if you want a less in demand item or an item with a high mark up, chances are good you'll get a bargain.
I did it at Best Buy a couple of years ago for a stereo I wanted. It was a clearance item. It originally sold for $800, and it was on clearance for $299. I offered them $199, and made up a whole patter (It's on clearance, it's been here a while, etc.) The sales kid went to his supervisor, and ten minutes later, I had my stereo! I loved the stereo so much, that I took my receipt to another Best Buy and got a SECOND stereo for $199!
Not to be combative, but was this stereo universally being phased out by the company, or was it only being sold off due to a clearance in the first store you patronized? I just left my employment at Lowe's Home Improvement after having worked there for several years. There are two locations of our store within a 10-minute drive of each other near Wilkes-Barre, PA (one on each side of the river). Even though we were in the same district on occasion we would still have something as a regular in-stock item while the other store was phasing it out or vice-versa. I suppose corporate had some magic formula based upon the sales volume of that particular item at each store when deciding where to keep it in stock and where to clearance that same item off in another store in hopes that a new product will be more popular.
I worked in the inside seasonal department, and there were plentiful times when someone would purchase a reconditioned Husqvarna tractor, for example, at a discounted price at our sister store across the river and then brought their receipt to our store in an attempt to purchase that same tractor brand new at our store for the same price (obviously to then return the reconditioned one to the other store while laughing all the way to the bank out of how much they scammed the company through their little scheme). I had to argue with customers on a frequent basis about grills in particular. If our sister location only had one unit of a particular grill left in stock, and if it was a banged-up floor model, then of course it would be marked down to sell off in order to bring in new merchandise. I would have people then come to our store to demand that we match the price of this same item at the other store, failing to mention to me that the OTHER grill was marked down for clearance due to being a damaged display whereas we still had several in-stock in pristine condition.
Just because I worked retail didn't mean I was uneducated and couldn't see through many deceptive tactics that people tried to dupe us with on a daily basis. I sincerely hope that you didn't pull a similar scheme by trying to get an in-stock, perfectly operable, non-display stereo at another Best Buy for the same price as you paid for the same item in less-than-stellar condition at another store without telling this to the second store. If so, then that was indeed a very dishonest thing.
Perhaps a few years out of retail will be good for you. We're not all 'devil customers', most of us are honest bargain shoppers who know how to play the game, not 'work the system'. There have been many times when a retail store has been willing to match a clearance price at another location and there was nothing dishonest about it. They can say "No" if they want to, and sometimes they do.
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