Are You A Haggler?
 

Just sat here enjoying my morning brew watching a BBC 1 TV show about how to get the best deals for your money when making an expensive purchase.

It's surprising how much discount the guy in the show is actually getting just by having the confidence to ask.

With the Christmas season upon us, do you haggle for the best price, discounts and extras thrown in when buying expensive items such as pc's, laptops, cameras phones or do you pay the price marked up in the shop?

If you are a haggler, do you haggle over everything to the extent you'd haggle over the price of a packet of biscuits?

Re: Are You A Haggler?
 

oh are you watching that thing with Dom on it on the beeb? i watched that yesterday and this bloke wanted a hot tub and he managed to knock the sellers down £6000, i thought it was good,i do haggle on markets but i dont think i would in a shop :D

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Yeah :)

Just think how much money you could save each year haggleing though!!

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hmmm i wonder if i could get the price of a ds down to a tenner ;)

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Im watching trash on tother side :D

I do try to haggle but dont get very far tho, my bro is good at it tho LOL

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i was on the market last thursday and i managed to get a toy for mi mate down from £7 to £3...but that was just pure cheekyness :D

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Re: Are You A Haggler?
 

Now that's a perfect example and yes I would haggle but I've got to do it on my own because mthead doesn't like it. He will go into one of the game shops in town for, say, my DS and pay the price it says ...... Me, with there being another game shop directly across I would play them off against one enough to get the best price possible.

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lol i did that in september, i went to game station to look for a ps2 game for reece and found it cheaper in game...they went a pound cheaper in gamestation,then i went back to game and i ended up getting it for £3 less than it was supposed to be :D

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See, that's just small amounts. Imagine how much you can save on the more expensive purchases.

I don't think I'd ever try to barter in the likes of Boots or Argos ..... but I'm sure I saw a gentleman haggling over the price of a TV in ASDA ... which surprised but impressed me.

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When I sold Hifi if someone asked for discount for cash we would automatically give up to 5% off. This was because if they paid on credit card we paid 5% in charges to the merchant services co so it was better to have cash in hand to spend on new stock. I wouldn't go over that unless there was good reason (We wanted shut of that piece of kit or if it was a VERY good customer and we knew we'd get a lot of business from it)

However we did have one bit of 'fun'

there was a young lad who tbh was a right pain in the rectum. he would come in week after week when new kit was released with a copy of What Hifi or similar and spend AGES, listening to it, comparing it with the review and generally wasting a lot of time(never buying anything). Anyhow it so happened that there was an amp released that was amazing for the money, they were like rocking horse droppings to get hold of. he came in and did the usual listen for 2 hours etc. then he asked how much to buy it, I was gobsmacked and nearly fell over! I quoted the retail price as I could sell them for that all day long. he started the "Practical Hifi will do it for £X less". Now I knew the guys there and knew they wouldn't discount this kit as there was no need to so I said, I'll do it for £Y which was £5 less than he quoted, he trundled off back to Practical to obviously try and beat them down further so I rang them up and had a natter with them, anyway, long story short, be effectively bounced him back and forward about 6 times till we got fed up, when he came to me I said, "Oh, I've just sold the last one!" so he ran back to Practical who did the same :D

He came back a week later and paid full price!

Re: Are You A Haggler?
 

nearly always haggle in stores got a great discount once on cushionfloor and a carpet, i take the view if i dont then i will get it somewhere else, would say approx 60% of the time it works,and if it dont then i aint lost out.;)

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Once went to pc world with a mate he wanted a LCD monitor and a new chair and some other stuff came to about £400 and we had picked 2 games cd's up anyway we went to the checkout with all this stuff she rang it up and i said how about letting us have the cd's she said we cant do that .
so i said to my mate lets go and look next door so we left the stuff on the trolly and walked out just as we got to the next shop the assistant came running out after us and said that we could have the cd's and they put it down to shop damaged stock but we got 2 £20 games cd's free

PC World is not the best place to get discount or free stuff from though its hard work
there must be better places to get a bargin or discount/free stuff

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I allways get a free extra pack of photo paper when i buy a new printer too

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there was a young lad who tbh was a right pain in the rectum. he would come in week after week when new kit was released with a copy of What Hifi or similar and spend AGES, listening to it, comparing it with the review and generally wasting a lot of time(never buying anything). Anyhow it so happened that there was an amp released that was amazing for the money, they were like rocking horse droppings to get hold of. he came in and did the usual listen for 2 hours etc. then he asked how much to buy it, I was gobsmacked and nearly fell over! I quoted the retail price as I could sell them for that all day long. he started the "Practical Hifi will do it for £X less". Now I knew the guys there and knew they wouldn't discount this kit as there was no need to so I said, I'll do it for £Y which was £5 less than he quoted, he trundled off back to Practical to obviously try and beat them down further so I rang them up and had a natter with them, anyway, long story short, be effectively bounced him back and forward about 6 times till we got fed up, when he came to me I said, "Oh, I've just sold the last one!" so he ran back to Practical who did the same :D

He came back a week later and paid full price![/quote]


ah but would you expect a discount at any shop????? :rolleyes:

Re: Are You A Haggler?
 

If you dont ask then you dont get so if in doubt give em a shout. Paying in wads of cash aint always a way to a discount especially when they want you to take it on buy nowpay later or on a credit agreement.

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Why did giving a discount or throwing in a few freebies affect your wage or any commission on your sales?

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nope, we worked for a set salary, that way it didn't have the effect you mentioned. It also meant that we could give honest advice and sell what teh customer actually wanted not what made us the most money.

We would sometimes use the 'bargain addons' style. we found that especially in stuff like video camera accessories, tripods/bags/filters etc would often be offered to us at silly prices if you took volume so we used to get all the deals then make up packs of accessories that we could throw in. e.g. we were offered quite decent tripods at £5 each if we took 500. they had a retail price of £49.95 in any dealer so add to that a camera bag (cost £2 if we took 400) at £34.95 and a few tapes and a sound mixer for adding music(£1.50 in 500's) at £29.95 you could give a 'pack worth over £100!!! (which actually cost us under a tenner). Customers are quite astute in wanting a bargain but quite often they don't care what that bargain was, the fact they would probably never use teh tripod or mixer meant nowt, they felt they had got one over us :D

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Not so much a haggle more a bargin i went into one of the charity shops at the start of the year and came out with NORTON security 2006 unopened for £1 and sold it for £15 the same day:)

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The only time we try it is abroad.The missus does all the haggling,but to be honest,although she thinks she's ace,she isn't.Example....this year she wanted 5 Lacoste t shirts for x ammount,haggled for ages till the shopkeeper got worn down & agreed.It wasn't till we unpacked them back home that she'd actually got 2 in the size she was after & the other 3 were way too big or small.I told her these blokes have been haggling for years,they know all the tricks & hes' probarbly got rid of sizes he knew he would struggle to sell otherwise.They know that your too pre occupied in getting the price down.

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I always ask for something off for antiques. Usually start by halfing it then work from there.

If something isn't perfect, and it's the only one in stock, again I ask for and get a discount.

On the otherside, having worked in retail, it does sometimes pee you off when people ask for a discount all the time. People love to think they are getting a bargain, even though the seller will have adjusted their prices to allow for this. It's the same with Sale goods, people don't care how much it is, just as long as it has a red Sale ticket on.

If people used to order ten fully made to measure shirts @£175.00 from me, if I was feeling generous, I might throw in a couple of printed silk ties in. They were happy with eighty quids worth of ties, which would have cost me thirteen quid.

Bargains are like life, if you don't ask, you don't get.

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rindy please can i have £100 for christmas??? :D its worth asking ;) lol

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You can get better quality bri-nylon shirts from the Oxfam shop. Three for a quid, with the ties thrown in for nowt.

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Not two-fold Egyptian cotton poplin ones, woven in Lancashire, with real Mother of Pearl buttons, and me measuring you and finding out what your needs really are.


You can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse anyway. You stick to your Bri-nylon jobbies, and I just hope I don't catch you with a cigarette at the Christmas meet.;)

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Heart warming to hear your spending your money in Omfam, supporting those lil black babies in Africa.:)

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When I mean a shirt, I mean a shirt - not a pyjama top. And I know my collar size, thank you.

Re: Are You A Haggler?
 

Aye, but I always haggle down the price.

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Yeah, I've got the illness of having to research and review and research any big-ticket item I plan on buying. Me mates make fun of me cause I'll always be waiting so long for a better deal to come along. However, when I do ace the deal, I always do well. Mind you I'm not a gerry whinging for every penny. I see it as a game.

I have saved thousands of dollars on cars, and hundreds of dollars on computer systems, televisions, washers and dryers, etc. Currently working on getting a new dishwasher (I keep reminding Cindy it's only been ~15 months:rolleyes: ). I know, I really need to lighten up a bit!

Like has been said, it doesn't hurt to ask.

Brian

Re: Are You A Haggler?
 

Like Entwisi posted earlier, it's always worth asking for something off for cash. Retailers put the cost of people paying by cards into the price. For American Express retailers pay 10%, so it's a useful bargaining tool.


When I bought my house, even though property was selling fast at the time, I asked for five grand off because I was paying cash. I got it for the price I wanted, but the ding bat I bought it off never got the carrier bag of notes he at first envisaged.:D

Re: Are You A Haggler?
 

I take it a lot of people have been reading this thread lot of haggling going on from customers going between gamestation & the one across from it, i had to giggle at the failed attempts even to points of opening hours LOL

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Entwisi, Rind, how can you suggest that discount hunters are a pain when your achieving such a such a massive profit margin as you mentioned earlier when the customer is only trying to get a good deal for their money? Not a criticism just a question, I understand everybody has to make a living.

Rindy were you working for yourself? I can understand if you were because that will be your own money but entwisi you were protecting a firms money.

Re: Are You A Haggler?
 

Me i'm always to embarrassed to ask for a discount. My sisters - theyre not! I went shopping with my sister once a few years ago for an outfit for a wedding and the shoes were already in the sale and she got a couple of quid knocked off because there was a tiny mark on one of the shoes - on the heel! Another time i went shopping with her - i'll never forget this one they knocked off 2.50 a pair of white shoes - all because there was a tiny grey spot on them and when we brought them home she got a damp cloth and rubbed it off!

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I haggled when I took my grandson, then aged 17, to Malta a couple of years ago but his technique was far better. His mum collects ornamental elephants and he saw a large brass one he wanted to buy for her on the Sunday flea-market in Valletta. The chap wanted LM7 for it (about £11). I offered him LM5 and, though he didn't look happy, he agreed. Peter looked in his wallet and said he hadn't got that much with him and he had really wanted it for his mother but never mind. He looked so downcast and miserable about it the chap said, OK, he could have it for LM3.50. Done - he got the elephant. Peter, later, told me he actually had LM40 on him but he thought it was worth a try. I learned a lot from that. :D

Re: Are You A Haggler?
 

I love to haggle.. i like to squeeze them till the pips come out....i dont feel embarassed at all .

Re: Are You A Haggler?
 

No, I was working for my old company, and wasn't on commission either, just a salary. It didn't really pee me off if people asked for discounts, it's just that our prices were fairly competitive already. A lot of other companies already marked up prices which allowed for discounts to be given, we didn't.

The advice I always give people is 'can you afford it, and is the price acceptable to you? If so buy it.'

I was always amazed at people who just bought things because they were 'on Sale'. They didn't care how much it was, or what the original price was, just that it had a red Sale sticker on, and so must be a bargain. It isn't always, as a lot of firms buy crap in for the Sales.

Happily I only sold to a few select customers, the rest of the time I was off buying ties etc in Italy and France. Spending money is always so much more fun...and I always wangled a discount.:D

Re: Are You A Haggler?
 

*L*

i wud love to haggle - my mom wud truely be world champion - yrs of dealing wiht wholesalers - but seeing as i'm lookin for a few things myself i may actually start to haggle but i'm just too nervous thinkin what if the shop ppl think i'm being stingy etc

its a commone thing everywhere apart from usa and uk

Re: Are You A Haggler?
 

Are they a pain, nope, the example of the lad I quoted was a total extreme case. I'm as bad as anyone for being 'efficient with money' (Tight my dad would have called it! :D )

As for protecting the companies money yes I was, They paid me a salary to make them as much money as possible by selling items. It would have been unprofessional of me to not do that to the best of my ability. Say what you like but I will always try and do my very best no matter what my job is.


BTW, I caught mthead in ASDA last night and HE DIDN'T ASK FOR DISCOUNT!!!! Get him told off Tinks! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Re: Are You A Haggler?
 

:D you in asda ian !!!!! thought you were a tesco's man :D :D :p :p

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I am normally but Asda are £1.20 cheaper on Siobhans nappies than Tesco. (See comment above about being 'efficient with money') and I was driving past on my home from physio. I still don't like it in there but I'll put up with it when I can effectively buy 3 get 1 free.

:D