Hagglin’ How To’s
10:47:00 AM
*Note: Much of this is based on my experience in
(2) Show absolutely no interest to the object you intend to purchase (no matter how perfect you may think it is). On the contrary, pretend as if it is some nasty, everyday product at Wal-Mart and you could do without it.
If you have someone else shopping with you (or you accompanying someone else), this is a great chance to tag team and boost your haggling chances, most won’t know what hit them (some see you kilometers away). Have your friend (or you, if you’re the spectator) show disdain for the object, a look of ‘over itness,’ and desire to leave real soon.
(3) Throw in some kind of joke or comment to lighten the mood or evoke pity. Some of my favorites: “If I don’t get these (insert warm clothing like gloves) I’ll be sooo cold! Can you have that on your conscience?” or “alpaca makes me feel like a baby again.” Be a bit weary of this though, remember some of the merchants you are dealing with are in much, much worse situations than you could ever be.
(4) Point out some kind of flaw in the object, no matter how minute. Some examples: a minor stain or mark, a loose string, unevenness, flaw in the pattern, one shoelace longer than the other, you’re not in love with the color, you only buy baby alpaca, it’s not quite furry enough, it has 3 llamas on it instead of 4, etc.
(5) Refer vaguely to some other merchant that has it for cheaper. The less details the better.
This is a great point to be “cute” and make a cheesy comment like “but I like your character better” or “your store feels pretty.”
(6) Make a final comment that means “this is it, it’s now or never ma’am/sir.” Here’s one that I use and it works too well (60% of the time it works every time): “come on, $---, so that I (we, he/she) can take it.” Simple, but it works.
(7) This final step is where the battle is won folks! When you’re no where satisfied and have been arguing a while, slowly put the object down, sigh as if you’re sorry for that person, say something along the lines of “I guess I’ll think about it and come around later,” and slowly WALK AWAY. About half the time they’ll stop you after a few steps and you have your price – the war is over, suckers!
(8) Then there’s times when you just have to bite the bullet. I absolutely despise this one. After a while of haggling over a dollar and nothing works, you just have to decide if it’s worth having a tennis racquet bashed on your pride and just buy the damn thing. You may even have to walk away and come back to buy it at the merchant’s price (and there’s no one to clean up that shame-filled mess).
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