Herb Cohen - You Can Negotiate Anything (1980) thaught me this. Got that book from a street salesman in China. One of the few English paperbacks he had. It was

Herb Cohen - You Can Negotiate Anything (1980) thaught me this. Got that book from a street salesman in China. One of the few English paperbacks he had. It was old and great. Few memories that seem relevant: - The advice is to negotiate by building a relationship or mutual understanding. The opposite party should feel good about granting you the sales and not begrudge your style or demands. He had chapters about how to socialize what is essentially a trade. Chat them up, show them why you would like the product, etc. Some of that feels old fashioned. - You can't one-time negatiate something through display of power. That's a negotiation style for repeat negotiations where you balance your display of power with a loss of future bargaining power. - Can't negotiate when the other party has no skin in the game. Be it the owner of the store, or someone selling on a concept of commission: they can oversee the financial consequences of your willingness to strike a deal. Can't negotiate with hourly wagers in large firms.. Unless (relationship) they like you and are allowed to decide on prices.