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A local computer store here has a well known policy: If you ask for a better price, they'll come back with an offering 20% above list price. If you question it,

A local computer store here has a well known policy: If you ask for a better price, they'll come back with an offering 20% above list price. If you question it, it'll go up again. Honestly I don't mind this. If a video card costs $100 and you're selling at $110 and someone says "I'll give you $50" and makes you devote an hour to the sale, they aren't worth it.

Stratoscope 5y ago
This reminds me of an imaginary situation I made up one time. Naturally I never leave my backpack with my laptops (yes, plural) in the car. So when I've shopped at a tech store like Fry's (remember them?!) I kept my pack on my back. I wondered what I would do if they asked to search my backpack on the way out. My imaginary response was, "No problem. I charge a ten dollar search fee, which of course if fully refundable if you find I've stolen something. If you question my fee, it goes up to twenty bucks, non-refundable." Alas, I never got a chance to follow through on this, but it was a fun thought experiment!
- MerelyMortal 5y ago
  You could do that at places that check receipts such as Walmart, but not Costco as they can just terminate your membership. I just walk by and usually they don't say anything, or if they do, I just reply "No thank you," as I am walking. Only one time a receipt checker actually (literally) yelled out, "That's not fair!" Everyone else just turns their attention to the next customer.
  - Stratoscope 5y ago
    Yep, at Fry's I used to let the exit checker wipe the pink pen on my receipt if no one else was in line, or maybe one person in front of me. It let them feel like they were doing their job, and it didn't cost me much time. But if a few people were in line, I would just nod and smile and walk on by. I never had an exit checker question this (they were trained not to!) but I did get a few dirty looks from other customers. Sorry friends, it's not my fault if you don't know the rules. ;-) Even Costco couldn't detain me if I didn't let them inspect my cart. But as you noted, they could refuse to let me shop there again. Of course it would be my loss. Even if nothing else, the membership is worth it for the olive oil! Did you happen to score any of the 2020 organic Val di Mazara? I've been a huge fan of their Toscana year after year, but the Val di Mazara is something else. Such a delightful peppery oil. I hope they get it again in the next harvest.
    - _tom_ 5y ago
      There are a number of cases of people being arrested or assaulted for not showing receipts. https://kfor.com/news/man-suing-costco-for-670000-after-refusing-to-show-receipt-suffers-broken-leg/ https://kfor.com/news/man-suing-costco-for-670000-after-refu... The fact that you think they don't have the right, even if you are correct, does not mean it won't happen.
      - Stratoscope 5y ago
        You raise a good point. If an exit checker ever did say "Wait! Stop!" of course I would be friendly and let them check my receipt. This would be the simplest solution, as my goal was not to prove a point about my rights, but simply to exit the store in an expeditious way with the merchandise I paid for. But they never did question me, so it was never a situation I had to worry about.
    - MadeThisToReply 5y ago
      Every now and then I'll be shopping and the security device by the door will beep as I'm walking out, even though I haven't stolen anything. I always just assume there's been a mistake, e.g. the cashier forgot to deactivate my security tag, and walk straight on out; I'm not going to waste my time being searched when I know I haven't done anything wrong. This doesn't happen very often but as far as I can remember I've never been challenged when I do it. But what I find really interesting is: based on what I've written above, isn't it trivially easy to guess my skin color?
      - jtc331 5y ago
        Most stores have explicit policies not to chase people even when they visually observed shoplifting. It creates too many problems — it’s easier and safer to just turn the video over to the police. Those security devices are generally there to scare potential thieves not actually detain or prevent them from leaving, so your anecdote doesn’t actually show anything interesting.
      - Handytinge 5y ago
        > But what I find really interesting is: based on what I've written above, isn't it trivially easy to guess my skin color? Nope. Maybe it would be if I the reader were in a country where people are stopped exiting a store based on race, but thankfully the vast majority of the world isn't like that.
emacsen 5y ago
A local computer store doesn't likely have a lot of flexibility on price. They're working on low margins and are competing in a tight market already with online sellers. They're going to argue that they're offering something other than price- whether that's support, return policies, supporting local, etc. But many of the comments on here have been anti-haggling, which is another way to say "Anti-negotiation". The problem I see isn't negotiation but instead how the negotiation takes place. Let's take this computer store as an example. If you're one customer and you're making a single purchase- this is a simple transactional relationship and it behooves the store to optimize against such customers. But if you are a customer who has been buying from this store for 10 years and using them for all the computer needs of a small business, presumably they've built a relationship up, in which case the computer store should know that they're gaining a loyal high-volume customer- a valuable asset indeed. This means they can negotiate on many things, price being only one. They could negotiate on a barter of services, or they could negotiate on a personal relationship that's built up, or they could negotiate on service. A good negotiation rarely happens in a single transaction.
macintux 5y ago
I’ve wanted to try this strategy when buying a used car from a dealership. Offer them a good price, and if they counter, reduce my offer.
hnthrowaway0315 5y ago
It really depends on who relies on whom. It looks like they are doing fine and can remove unwanted business as they wish. I for one won't even touch this shop unless absolutely necessary. There are tons of alternatives online/offline. Good luck with your business.

Stratoscope 5y ago

This reminds me of an imaginary situation I made up one time. Naturally I never leave my backpack with my laptops (yes, plural) in the car. So when I've shopped at a tech store like Fry's (remember them?!) I kept my pack on my back. I wondered what I would do if they asked to search my backpack on the way out. My imaginary response was, "No problem. I charge a ten dollar search fee, which of course if fully refundable if you find I've stolen something. If you question my fee, it goes up to twenty bucks, non-refundable." Alas, I never got a chance to follow through on this, but it was a fun thought experiment!

MerelyMortal 5y ago
You could do that at places that check receipts such as Walmart, but not Costco as they can just terminate your membership. I just walk by and usually they don't say anything, or if they do, I just reply "No thank you," as I am walking. Only one time a receipt checker actually (literally) yelled out, "That's not fair!" Everyone else just turns their attention to the next customer.
- Stratoscope 5y ago
  Yep, at Fry's I used to let the exit checker wipe the pink pen on my receipt if no one else was in line, or maybe one person in front of me. It let them feel like they were doing their job, and it didn't cost me much time. But if a few people were in line, I would just nod and smile and walk on by. I never had an exit checker question this (they were trained not to!) but I did get a few dirty looks from other customers. Sorry friends, it's not my fault if you don't know the rules. ;-) Even Costco couldn't detain me if I didn't let them inspect my cart. But as you noted, they could refuse to let me shop there again. Of course it would be my loss. Even if nothing else, the membership is worth it for the olive oil! Did you happen to score any of the 2020 organic Val di Mazara? I've been a huge fan of their Toscana year after year, but the Val di Mazara is something else. Such a delightful peppery oil. I hope they get it again in the next harvest.
  - _tom_ 5y ago
    There are a number of cases of people being arrested or assaulted for not showing receipts. https://kfor.com/news/man-suing-costco-for-670000-after-refusing-to-show-receipt-suffers-broken-leg/ https://kfor.com/news/man-suing-costco-for-670000-after-refu... The fact that you think they don't have the right, even if you are correct, does not mean it won't happen.
    - Stratoscope 5y ago
      You raise a good point. If an exit checker ever did say "Wait! Stop!" of course I would be friendly and let them check my receipt. This would be the simplest solution, as my goal was not to prove a point about my rights, but simply to exit the store in an expeditious way with the merchandise I paid for. But they never did question me, so it was never a situation I had to worry about.
  - MadeThisToReply 5y ago
    Every now and then I'll be shopping and the security device by the door will beep as I'm walking out, even though I haven't stolen anything. I always just assume there's been a mistake, e.g. the cashier forgot to deactivate my security tag, and walk straight on out; I'm not going to waste my time being searched when I know I haven't done anything wrong. This doesn't happen very often but as far as I can remember I've never been challenged when I do it. But what I find really interesting is: based on what I've written above, isn't it trivially easy to guess my skin color?
    - jtc331 5y ago
      Most stores have explicit policies not to chase people even when they visually observed shoplifting. It creates too many problems — it’s easier and safer to just turn the video over to the police. Those security devices are generally there to scare potential thieves not actually detain or prevent them from leaving, so your anecdote doesn’t actually show anything interesting.
    - Handytinge 5y ago
      > But what I find really interesting is: based on what I've written above, isn't it trivially easy to guess my skin color? Nope. Maybe it would be if I the reader were in a country where people are stopped exiting a store based on race, but thankfully the vast majority of the world isn't like that.

emacsen 5y ago

A local computer store doesn't likely have a lot of flexibility on price. They're working on low margins and are competing in a tight market already with online sellers. They're going to argue that they're offering something other than price- whether that's support, return policies, supporting local, etc. But many of the comments on here have been anti-haggling, which is another way to say "Anti-negotiation". The problem I see isn't negotiation but instead how the negotiation takes place. Let's take this computer store as an example. If you're one customer and you're making a single purchase- this is a simple transactional relationship and it behooves the store to optimize against such customers. But if you are a customer who has been buying from this store for 10 years and using them for all the computer needs of a small business, presumably they've built a relationship up, in which case the computer store should know that they're gaining a loyal high-volume customer- a valuable asset indeed. This means they can negotiate on many things, price being only one. They could negotiate on a barter of services, or they could negotiate on a personal relationship that's built up, or they could negotiate on service. A good negotiation rarely happens in a single transaction.

macintux 5y ago

I’ve wanted to try this strategy when buying a used car from a dealership. Offer them a good price, and if they counter, reduce my offer.

hnthrowaway0315 5y ago

It really depends on who relies on whom. It looks like they are doing fine and can remove unwanted business as they wish. I for one won't even touch this shop unless absolutely necessary. There are tons of alternatives online/offline. Good luck with your business.