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What is Haggling

What is haggling? Haggling is another word for bargaining, wrangling or negotiating. Whenever I think about haggling, I think about it in the context of buying something.

Maybe you’ve traveled internationally, where it is a customary part of commerce to negotiate the price of something. I know that when my husband went to China, he discovered this was something everyone did.

Or maybe you tried your hand at haggling with a dealer when making car purchases. This kind of quibbling could potentially give you a better price, especially if you visit a dealer at the end of the month or the end of a model year, which usually coincides with the holiday season. Then, salespeople have more of an incentive to move inventory and you could negotiate your way to a more than fair price.

Finally, when you make an offer on a home and find yourself in real estate negotiations, finally settling on terms of an agreement that both sides can live with, well, my friend, you have been haggling.

My experience with haggling

A few years ago, I spent the day with a National Public Radio reporter. She was shadowing me as I hit the stores to haggle. My goal? To get the best deal possible on cabinets, countertops, appliances and furniture for our kitchen renovation.

At that time, I was used to haggling in my freelance business. However, unlike haggling to shop, as a self-employed person, I was usually trying to negotiate for more money for a project. Usually, a quick “Is that the best you can do?” resulted in my fee going up.

That left me wondering: would the same “Is that the best you can do?” technique work in a retail environment?

How to prepare for haggling

Before we hit the stores, I figured I’d better study up on the best ways to haggle. Here are some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned. I hope they will help you wrap your head around the whole notion of what haggling is all about.

Do your homework first

One of the items I’d hoped to score a deal on was a new stainless steel refrigerator. My husband and I had been shopping for one for quite some time. By the time I was ready to haggle at the store, I knew more about cubic foot interiors of fridges and ice dispensers than I ever thought possible.

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I’ve also become familiar with brands and prices. For example, I remember seeing a great piece on a Kenmore Elite refrigerator at Sears. Could I find any stores that could beat Sears?

leah in front of stainless steel refrigerator

Damaged goods can equal discounted goods

I know that whenever I’m in a retail store and I find a stained or torn article of clothing that I was interested in buying, I don’t just toss it to the side. Instead, I look to see if there’s an identical piece of clothing on the rack. If there isn’t, I used the damaged item to my advantage.

I’ll bring my potential purchase to the register, point out the flaw and add, “This is the last one of this shirt/sweater/pair of pants on the rack.” Then I’ll ask, “What can you do for me?” Yup, that’s haggling.

Usually, I can get a few bucks knocked off the price–great if I know that I can clean or repair the article of clothing at home. I use the same technique when looking at any dented or scratched appliances.

Haggling is a lot like shopping at an auction

If you’ve ever bid on an eBay item or participated in a legit auction, then you’ve probably given yourself a price limit. You’ve done some research and know the “real” cost of the item you’re bidding on. When the price surpasses what you’re comfortable spending, you need to stop bidding.

Haggling works the same way. You should know ahead of time how much you’re willing to spend. When you can’t haggle your way down to anywhere near that price, you need to walk away.

Your feet are your most valuable negotiating tool

So you couldn’t haggle to the price you wanted and you’ve decided to walk away. Then do it. Quite literally.

Sometimes the act of physically walking away from a salesperson may have him or her calling after you to work out a deal. It works all the time at car dealerships and yard sales. Why not give it a try when haggling for appliances or electronics?

Be reasonable about what you try to haggle for

Asking a salesperson at a big-box store to give you a break on a brand-new, out-of-the-box flat-screen TV won’t get you very far. But asking that same salesperson what kind of price he can give you for a floor model of a flat screen might just snag you a deal.

My plan when I went out shopping with the NPR reporter was to ask about floor models for all of the kitchen cabinets, countertops, dining room tables and appliances I’m interested in purchasing.

A little birdie told me recently that about twice a year, the Lowe’s and Home Depots of the world dismantle their kitchen display centers so they can bring in new inventory. I wonder if I could negotiate a good deal if I “offer” to take those cabinets and countertops that they used in the display off the store’s hands. Sure, I’d have to rent a truck (about $75 a day) to get the stuff home. However, I’m betting that the money I’d save on the floor models would be way more than the money I would spend on a truck.

If all else fails, reveal how much you can afford and stick to that figure

This may seem like the worst thing to do–maybe you could have gotten the item for much cheaper, you know? But if you already know how much you can spend and you’ve done your homework on what things cost, then sharing your budget can’t hurt. Either the salesperson is going to work with you and your budget, or he’s going to tell you to have a nice day.

Stating our budget upfront helped my husband and me when we were negotiating with the contractor doing a renovation. Multiple times we stated very clearly the amount we could afford to spend on the project. We knew the contractor wanted our business, and we knew he was willing to work within our budget. So while we were shocked to see the low price he gave us on his bid, we were also pleasantly surprised to learn that our tactic actually worked.

Haggling on NPR

In the end, I got a great deal on a refrigerator. The seller and I negotiated for a lower price and free delivery. Old refrigerator, left, and new refrigerator, right.

old-refrigerator-meet-new-refrigerator

And my story made it onto NPR.

You can read and listen to the finished story on haggling on the NPR site here.

I’d love to hear your successful stories about haggling. If you have any, please post a comment.

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2 Comments

  1. It was quite a sight at the car dealership to see our family of six kids all stand up to leave when the price wasn’t to my husband’s liking! Very dramatic.