Want to Save Money? Try Negotiating
July 1, 2009 by Miranda Marquit
Filed under Finance
In our society, there is an aversion to negotiating. For some reason, we feel as though it is rude to haggle and ask for a better price. However, it turns out that maybe we should be negotiating more. Two weeks ago, my husband and I got a 15% discount for an already-on-sale griddle for offering to take the display model. Of course, the item was out of stock. I doubt the display model trick would have worked as well if there were more griddles sitting on the shelf. And when we bought our dryer (and a couch later), we managed to successfully get free delivery and set-up (normally $50) on top of a discount of $75. Just for asking.
But it appears that I am in the minority. Consumer Reports has a graphic in the August 2009 issue that shows that only about a quarter of consumers try to negotiate. However, those who do negotiate tend to have a pretty good success rate:
Consumer Reports also offers these tips on how you can increase the chances that your haggling will prove successful:
- Know store policy about discounts and matching deals, and research prices for similar items online and off.
- Time your visit so that you arrive later in the month. Additionally, avoid times of the day that are busy. You want your salesperson to be thinking of his or her quota. And you want him or her to have the time to negotiate with you.
- Show fixable flaws to the salesperson (or take the display model).
- Avoid asking for a discount in front of others. Salespeople don’t want to have to give a discount to everyone who sees your successful negotiation.
- Ask for a manager if the salesperson can’t deal.
- Offer cash. In some cases, you can get a cash discount by asking. It means the business doesn’t have to pay a transaction fee for accepting your credit card.
- Walk if you don’t get the deal. Part of negotiating is being able to walk away if you know you can get the same deal elsewhere. At the very least, when you walk you know you can get the same item for the same price someplace else.
For an interesting personal story about negotiating, Man Vs. Debt has a pretty cool story — and some good tips for beginning negotiators.
Do you haggle?
