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I, too, negotiate everything. You would be surprised at how much wiggle room there is at a national retailer like Best Buy for big-ticket items. Here are some
by jbond 17y ago
I, too, negotiate everything. You would be surprised at how much wiggle room there is at a national retailer like Best Buy for big-ticket items.
Here are some ground rules and the steps I use to haggle:
Haggling works better if you can pay in cash.
Know how much you are willing to spend and do not exceed it!
Never, ever reveal to the salesperson how much you are willing to spend.
1. Express a casual and not too focused interest in the item (HDTV is a perfect example).
2. Show that you understand the product and are in the market for a new television.
3. Mention how the store's competitors and the internet are making it easier to price compare.
4. Ask if there are any specials on your particular model (are they throwing in a Blu-ray player? Free DVDs? Sales price that doesn't go into effect until the weekend?).
5. Let the salesperson know that the currently advertised price is more than your are willing to spend and ask him/her if there is anything they can do to bring the price down. If they ask what you price you would like to see then give them a number below your predefined maximum spending limit. It's up to you to gauge how much lower, and you will find that after time this number gets to be farther and farther from your max limit the comfortable you get at negotiating.
6. Make the deal at this price, or continue to haggle until you've crossed your limit and are ready to leave.
7. If you don't make the deal, you have four options:
You can go back tomorrow and try with a different sales person
You can head to a different store and try again.
You can raise your max spending limit (not recommended).
You can decide that you really didn't need the product anyway.
Hope this helps!
- chris100 17y agoInternet prices and retail is actually something I have been thinking about recently. Someone, please help me with the economics. What if a retail store offered great advice and let you order online so you get the best Internet price? One reason why I almost never visit a retail store anymore is because the best deal is always online. So rather than take it as a challenge for retail, embrace it. Can one build a retail business that relies on ordering stuff from the cheapest online retailers? I can think of the obvious reasons why not. But if you think creatively, wouldn't that make sense? Even the cheapest online retailers offer some kind of referral compensation. There may be other ways to make money than making a profit on the big ticket item that your visitor came in to order...
- notauser 17y agoAmazon affiliate revenues go up to 9%. I'm sure you could negotiate something similar with other providers. Possibly you could offer people an guided Internet shopping experience in the mall - people come in and, with the help of an 'Internet shopping expert', buy things at Internet prices for later delivery. As you suggest you could monetize by collecting the affiliate commission. If running a kiosk in a small mall cost you $20,000 a month (?) you would need to persuade people to buy ~1,000 $200 TVs a month. The biggest barrier I can see would be overcoming the hostility from the other stores who would be really keen to kick you out once they spotted what you were doing. Because they occupy more square feet I'm sure mall management would oblige.
- chris100 17y agoThe biggest barrier I can see would be overcoming the hostility from the other stores If that's the only problem, you could just open your retail store outside a mall, where no one can bother you. Think El Camino in Silicon Valley. If you have the best value (unbeatable price and good service), you should have a winner, right?
- jbond 17y agoWhat you would need to do is start a retail store that either: A) Sold the product at a price competitive to the online retailers (competitive can mean price or value-add services like knowledgeable salespeople, free delivery, etc.) or B) Provided great advice, directed a customer to the cheapest internet price and then had a value-add service. The store would then get paid via the internet store from which the item was purchased. The problem with this approach is that after time it would be beneficial (in the short term) for the retail store to direct customers to whichever online store gave the retail store the best kick back.
- wisty 17y agoBATNA - Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement. If you subtly imply that you can walk away and buy elsewhere, then you can talk them down. You lose a bit of time, they lose their commission. If you know what their commission would be (or you can make an educated guess), you can talk them down a long way. But if you behave as though you must buy there, they have no reason to drop the price.
- shmichael 17y agoIs it truly beneficial to negotiate everything? What about peace of mind? Negotiation sometimes does not justify the time invested in it. It is also an extra something to occupy space in your consciousness. It might blind you to other considerations, not price-oriented. That said, a healthy chutzpa is indeed an important skill many people lack.
- aw3c2 17y agoIt can be turned into a fun hobby where you can also learn a lot about people interaction.