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How to Haggle

Haggling is for life, not just for holidays. You'll save money if you adopt the six habits of highly effective hagglers

Cultivate a pained expression. When the seller mentions a price, give them a clear facial signal that the price is not acceptable. If you're struggling with how this might look, imagine you've just been told by your lovable but overzealous secretary that he has just simultaneously shredded your appointments diary, passport and jackpot-winning lottery ticket. Now look in the mirror... that look will do nicely.
As well as managing the visual signals you give, keep an eye and ear out for the signals coming back at you. A pause before a reply comes back to you often indicates that there's a negotiable stance being offered to you rather than the bottom line. Really pay attention to the words people use: when people tell you they can't reduce the price 'at the moment' or 'in these circumstances' or 'as things stand', they're actually letting you know that perhaps they could reduce price at some point or under different circumstances. Press them to find out what these conditions are. For example, if there's going to be a '50 per cent off across the store' sale coming up, maybe you want to hold back and take the risk that you can elbow your way to the front of the sales queue.
Research the market. Whatever the price quoted at you, if you can say 'I know I can get it cheaper elsewhere' and can back the assertion up with evidence, there's a good chance you'll get a reduction.
Questions like 'Is this the very best price you can offer me?', 'Have you ever sold this for less?', and 'What does [insert name of company's chief rival] charge for this?'
Create possibilities. Salespeople worth their salt should be doing this for you anyway, but it never does any harm to drop in hints and phrases that might move the negotiation along. You know the sort of thing: 'It's still a lot to pay all at once. Are there any credit deals going which might mean we could afford to buy now?' or 'Suppose we took half now and half later - would you still guarantee the price?' Questions like these can help to move a bargaining session out of stalemate, so go into your next negotiation armed with phrases like 'What if.?', 'Suppose we/you.', and 'How would it be if.?'
If the item in question is something you really, really want, it might be worth delegating the bargaining to somebody who is emotionally detached. If the reality is that you are so desperate to lay your hands on something, your language and your non-verbal signals will give you away and you'll end up paying top price.

Now the trick with any of the above is to get practising them. Have a go and I'll be very surprised if by the end of the week you haven't saved yourself at least the cost of this already keenly priced book.


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