Negotiating a Good Price for Anything
I'd like to set up a scenario for you: You walk into an electronics store to buy a brand new wide-screen HDTV — you know, the one that I spent over $2,000 on a couple of years ago, and is now about $500! Do you negotiate or haggle at all on the price? I know what you're thinking. You have to be out of your mind to haggle with the sales guy at Best Buy. It's not like you're at a flee shop.
Well wait a minute, don't you shop at this establishment all the time? Don't you deserve a bit of a break for being a loyal customer? Although haggling is a way of life in many countries, it's not something you expect to do when you walk into a retail store here in the United States. Haggling is often looked down upon in this country, because many people view it to be demeaning or beneath them.
The art of negotiations
But if you think about it, business people haggle — or more properly termed as 'negotiate' in corporate America — everyday. From multibillion dollar mergers to employee salaries, theses suit-and-tie guys have transformed negotiating into an art form. Outside of work, you'll find ordinary people negotiating the best price on a new or used vehicle. And in my profession, negotiations can make or break the sale of a home.
In his 2007 book, 'Black Belt Negotiating (American Management Association),' Michael Lee summarizes a different approach to buying everyday items in more affluent countries, like the U.S. In this country, consumers often have more money than time. In other places, the opposite is true, buyers have more time than money. But in light of the recent economic downturn, American consumers are starting to feel more confident haggling for items they use everyday.
According to a survey conducted by BIG research last April, roughly half of U.S. consumers are attempting to negotiate better prices on everything from car repairs to electronics and appliance purchases. And in a separate survey conducted by a British-based company, found nearly 60 percent of U.S. respondents said they are more likely to price negotiate now than they were six months ago.
Confidence is everything
One Chicago Musician, Eli Blair, who performs under the stage name 'Ellie May,' recently worked out a better deal on a $499 bass at Guitar Center. She ended up paying $410 for the instrument, and even got the sales person to throw in a $100 hard case as part of the package!
'All you have to do is ask,' advises Blair.
Margot Bogue, senior vice president of Cramer-Krasselt Advertising here in Chicago, sees more consumers gaining the confidence to negotiate every day purchases. The firm is suggesting its clients adopt a more flexible, employee-empowered pricing structure, to give their customers the psychological and economic 'victory' they now crave when they buy.
The rise of the Internet has fueled buyer confidence in price negotiation on everyday and special-purchase items. Online shoppers can perform detailed price research on virtually every available product before entering a store. Many stores, including Home Depot, Best Buy, and Ritz Camera, have low price guarantees and empower their own front-line employees to discount prices —to a certain degree — to complete a sale.
Buying merchandise online? Here's a money-saving tip: Before you hit the 'confirm' purchase button on an e-tailer Web site, open up another browser window and Google discounts for the item you are considering. For example, entering 'HP discounts' can give you a whole list of discount coupon codes that you can then cut and paste into the promotional code box on most Web sites. The potential savings can include anything from free shipping to a 25 percent discount off your total purchase.
In these difficult financial times, you never know what kind of deals you can get until you try!
Visit DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO at BlogChicagoHomes.com.
Comments
Dean, it's about time that haggling, negotiating, or whatever you want to call it, becomes part of our consumer culture in this country. The fact is, most retailers overprice their goods, and even when they put on sales, they're still cutting a nice profit. With cost of living rising and household incomes stagnating, it should now be demeaning to pay sticker price for anything. Thanks for addressing this issue.
Equal Housing Opportunity