Heh. Choking back laughter - only if you owe them a LOT.
Gary SF
· 1 year ago
I haggle with my banks. When I have CDs renewing, I print out higher rates offered by other banks and tell them that I will be moving the accounts unless they match the rate. They usually cave.
David
· 1 year ago
I am a small private retailer and I have to say that haggling is NOT the name of the game with me. I simply can't afford to do it. Whenever someone asks me what the REAL price is, I try to come up with some polite way of saying, "Look on the tag, you mofo."
I suppose we have to accept the fact that now live in a third world country and behave accordingly, but I can't help but feel that my classiest customers (and that is not to say richest because it's the richest who seem the stingiest and most evil to me) know that I'm trying to look out for them and myself at the same time with the price that's written on the fucking price tag.
tbhull
· 1 year ago
You will learn negotiate or go out of business my friend.
David
· 1 year ago
The only way I can negotiate is if I artificially increase the prices to the point where they can be talked down. I have more respect for people than that.
tbhull
· 1 year ago
If you do not sell at your "honest" prices you will learn to sell at a lower price if you want to sell. Times are changing, if they have not already. In sales there is no room for price honor, only sales.
Schtu
· 1 year ago
Good for you David. There is another word for haggling. It is called "being cheap and tacky." Sure there are situations where negotiations are part of the accepted business transaction. Buying a home, or a car for example. That is because there are enough variables that can effect a positive outcome for both parties. But the idea that you can haggle over a head of lettuce is disrespectful to the people who work hard to get that friggin lettuce to your table.
I am in the service industry. People ask me to lower my hourly rate frequently. They fail to understand that my hourly rate is a direct multiplier of my expenses. If I lower my rate then I loose money, as in I am better off not working for you. I simply offer to refer those people to someone else.
Mike Grrrrr
· 1 year ago
When I sold my own produce at a farmer's market, people used to try all the time- like it was some f'ing badge of honor. But instead of going down in price, I'd go up. Then, it wasn't so much fun because I wasn't playing by your rules. At the end of markets, the few times that I had anything left, I'd happily give to the foodbank. The other related stupid urban trick is to get the farmer to sell some produce outside the market rules and offer extra money to do it, like we're some kind of desperate circus monkey. What you're exploiting is farmers who haven't figured out that they should pick less and charge a fair price for it and stick to it. Practice the progressive values on someone else like the IRS or are you too chicken?
Gary SF
· 1 year ago
I depends upon the type of business. If you have a jewelry shop, you will end up reducing the price of your higher-end items. If you sell cars, you will reduce the price. If you are Macy's, you won't reduce the price of a pair of shoes.
An_American_Karol
· 1 year ago
I love to haggle, but i only do it in the U.S at Battery Park and other outdoor malls. Outside this country, it's part of the entire buying process.
tbhull
· 1 year ago
Inside the US that will change.
Art
· 1 year ago
"I could not bare to part with it easily"...?? Perhaps disrobing is not the best option anyway...
Sugapea
· 1 year ago
Great article! American's better learn to start haggling. I have read that even Nordstroms has begun to allow haggling. Buy in quantity...and haggle, haggle, haggle!
LeftCoastOracle
· 1 year ago
Chris, I really enjoy reading reports of things happening around the world. This account takes me back to a long line in a Sidney bank when I first traveled to Australia (1989). I was intent on exchanging currency when a woman approached me, having recognized me from an event sponsored by an organization we both belonged to in San Francisco. I ended up doing some sightseeing things with her and her partner over the next several days.
You never know when or where you might run into someone.
All Comments
I suppose we have to accept the fact that now live in a third world country and behave accordingly, but I can't help but feel that my classiest customers (and that is not to say richest because it's the richest who seem the stingiest and most evil to me) know that I'm trying to look out for them and myself at the same time with the price that's written on the fucking price tag.
I am in the service industry. People ask me to lower my hourly rate frequently. They fail to understand that my hourly rate is a direct multiplier of my expenses. If I lower my rate then I loose money, as in I am better off not working for you. I simply offer to refer those people to someone else.
But instead of going down in price, I'd go up. Then, it wasn't so much fun because I wasn't playing by your rules. At the end of markets, the few times that I had anything left, I'd happily give to the foodbank. The other related stupid urban trick is to get the farmer to sell some produce outside the market rules and offer extra money to do it, like we're some kind of desperate circus monkey.
What you're exploiting is farmers who haven't figured out that they should pick less and charge a fair price for it and stick to it. Practice the progressive values on someone else like the IRS or are you too chicken?
American's better learn to start haggling.
I have read that even Nordstroms has begun to allow haggling. Buy in quantity...and haggle, haggle, haggle!
You never know when or where you might run into someone.