Although you have the perfect right to haggle and negotiate before handing over your hard earned cash, most people will tell you that they don't or can't do it, because they feel embarrassed and almost ashamed to ask for a better deal.
In general, men find it harder to haggle than women and the reason is partly upbringing and partly cultural, and if you've visited the far east, middle east, Mexico or south America then you'll have noticed that negotiating a price is normal, and if you don't do it then you'll most likely be considered stupid, and even worse, you'll spoil the fun that the dealer would have got from haggling.
There is a standing joke in Israel which goes, "How do you make a storekeeper angry in Israel?", and the answer is, "you enter the shop and ask how much something costs. The store keeper tells you $155 and you pay him the $155 and leave. The merchant slaps his leg and asks himself heatedly why he didn't ask for more".
Let's be clear that I'm not talking about negotiating in a coffee shop, or your local supermarket, but you can definitely negotiate a better price in more places than you'd probably imagine, and you'd be really silly to buy expensive jewelry, or a car at the asking price, and you might well be able to lower the price of even things like dental work if you just push a little.
The First Truism
a) Something is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it.
If a quick example would help you better understand this, then you need look further than at what happened to the prices of real estate in the U.S. over the last year or so. Folks purchased homes at highly inflated prices and lenders approved mortgages believing that prices just had to keep going up. They went down because people wouldn't pay the prices.
The Second Truism
You have the right to ask for a better price, an extended warranty at no extra cost, or a first-time-customer discount etc. and the vendor or lender of course has the right to refuse. There is nothing shameful about asking for these things, and certainly no shame in being turn down.
The Third Truism
The vast majority of sellers would much prefer to give you a 5-10-20% discount rather than have you leave the store without buying anything. In lots of countries the seller will probably follow you down the street yelling that you'll get a much better deal if you'll just come back, but that's highly unlikely to happen in Europe or the U.S. or Europe.
You're the one that needs to ask for the better price, so here are six negotiating tips.
1) A Bird In The Hand
Offer to pay cash and you'll almost always get a discount. There are lots of different reasons for this, but the main one is that it costs the dealer between two and five percent when you pay with a credit card.
If you want to play with the seller's head a little, then offer him a Diner's Club or American Express card and then ask if there's a discount for cash.
They charge merchants almost double what Master Card and Visa do.
2) Don't Talk Too Much
After you ask for a discount, keep quiet and wait. It might be difficult, but you must leave the ball in seller's court.
3) Make Sure The Seller Spends A Lot Of Time With You
Someone that walks into a store and immediately asks for a discount will have far less chance of getting one than somebody that has taken twenty minutes of the seller's time.
4) Never say, "Let me be honest with you".
How would you feel if after several minutes of conversation somebody said, "Let me be honest with you".
You'd have to ask yourself what he'd being doing up until then.
5) Take It Or Leave It!
Don't ever say, "Take it or leave it".
You'll hardly ever get a better deal by giving an ultimatum, and you'll more than likely bring about a quick and sorry end to the negotiating process.
6) Avoid Saying "What's the lowest amount you'll agree to?".
First of all, the seller will never tell you, and secondly he'll have serious doubts about wanting to deal with you at all.
Negotiating With Creditors
Negotiating with credit card companies or other lenders is not dissimilar to negotiating with vendors.
1) Asking a credit card company to lower your interest, or forgive a part of your debt is not a shameful thing to do.
2) A lender would much rather have you repay a part of you debt than have you file for bankruptcy.
Supposing Negotiating Just Isn't For You.
If it's simply not in your nature to negotiate, then see if you can get somebody that you know to do it for you, and if you pay him then you should both come out like winners.
I used to hate selling my cars, and didn't want to quibble with the dealership where I was buying the new car, or haggle with private parties, so I used to call a friend of mine who excelled at wheeling and dealing, and after finding out what a good blue book price would be, I'd tell him that anything that he got over and above that price was for him, and we'd always both end up happy.
If you want somebody to negotiate with creditors for you, then only use a company or agency that is BBB (Better Business Bureau) approved, and if you're staring bankruptcy in the face, then you can most likely get a free consultation with a skilled bankruptcy attorney in your area.
There is certainly nothing wrong with getting the best deals that you can get, and not even trying would really be selling yourself short, so next time you want to purchase something, remember the above tips and put them to good use, and save yourself a growing amount of money.
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The author of this article was a film producer, and award winning film sound editor for many years. He has a major interest and flare for economics, and one of his websites ->
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