Bring haggling skills home
Save yourself some hard-earned cash with a little negotiation
WHENEVER we travel overseas on holidays, particularly to Asia, we take pride in negotiating everything that we buy and coming home with great stories of bargains secured.
And then it strikes us . . . why aren’t we doing the same thing at home, every day.
For some people it just comes naturally, for others we just get too embarrassed.
But being a good haggler can save you a lot of money in these times of low wage growth and constantly rising food prices.
We have friends who are famous for haggling on virtually everything and more often than not will succeed in getting a better price.
Their philosophy is that you’ve got nothing to lose and the retailer can just say no. And if it’s not a better price, they’ll get some value-added item or service.
We have a friend who every time they go out for dinner, or go on holidays, it’s supposedly for a special anniversary or birthday. You would be amazed at how many room upgrades or bottles of wine he has scored.
But all the best hagglers we know say there is an etiquette and strategy to successful bargaining. The better informed you are about the market for what you’re buying, the more confident you’ll be when negotiating. Many stores promise never to be undersold on price, but you need to know what their competitors are offering so you can keep them to their promise. Check the catalogues of other retailers to see what they are offering, go online and research store websites, or visit comparative shopping sites and eBay. Websites such as www.finder.com.au allow you to compare virtually everything from mobile phone packages through to clothes and electronics. Then specialist sites – like carsales.co m.au – list thousands of car prices and are great comparison shopping sites. Remember you’re negotiating with another human being and they’re more likely to give you a better deal more quickly if they take a shine to you.
So be nice, be friendly and any negotiation should be done in a good-natured way. If you’re aggressive the salesperson is likely to stick their heels in and be combative back to prove a point. No one likes a bully. Take your time. Give the salesperson time to go through their sales spiel so they feel you have all the information to make a decision. It’s part of the ritual – like a dance.
Once the salesperson has gone through their pitch, ask questions and then reveal your knowledge about the product, why you want it and the prices of other retailers.
It’s a sort of signal to the salesperson that while you appreciate their position, you’ve done your homework as well and you want to talk turkey. Salespeople love this, because it shows you’re not a tyre-kicker and you’re ready to do a deal. The bigger and more expensive the item, the more room there is to haggle. Sure, you can haggle over buying a candle and save a couple of bucks, but the big savings are on the more expensive end.
Ask for a discount when you’re buying big-ticket items like televisions, fridges and sofas – especially if you’re paying cash or offering to take a display item. Start by offering 20 per cent less and see if you can negotiate a 10 per cent discount. That would be $100 off a $1000 sofa. Not bad.
With cars, when you have decided on the model, call different dealers selling that car and ask for their best price. Next, walk into a dealership, tell them the lowest price you’ve been quoted and ask if they can beat it. Local dealers may give you a better deal because they’ll hope to get your car service business too. You’ll also get a good price if the car is in stock and you’re prepared to buy it that month. Go shopping at the end of the month. The low wage growth environment is encouraging people to spend less and that’s really hurting retailers.
Many stores are struggling to meet monthly sales targets. They may offer better discounts at the end of the month to boost reach their budgets.
Research shows you can save up to 20 per cent on the supermarket bill by shopping on a Friday. Supermarkets get lots of fresh food in for the weekend and offer the best specials of the week. It’s not just all about price, remember the add-ons can be valuable as well. If the salesperson just won’t budge on price, ask if they’ll throw in sheets with the bed, or free installation of the home theatre system, or free servicing of the car for a year. Don’t be intimidated and enjoy the experience. Any good salesperson will be expecting some bargaining and will already have been given “wriggle room” on the price by their boss. They’ll also be expecting you to ask for a cheaper price if you’re paying cash rather than credit card.
The ideal outcome is you being happy with the price of the purchase and the salesperson being happy with the sale. And, of course, promise to come back and be a good future customer.