In February, I wrote about a purchase that I made at a local children’s store (Recession Survival Tips - Negotiating a Better Deal) in which I asked for the online price of a mattress.  The online price was only available online.  I wanted to purchase the item in the store.  At first, the manager did not want to give me the online price.  However, she realized that if she didn’t give it to me, I was just going to go home and order it online, and it would cost her more to ship it to me.  She gave me the online price.  We both won because she made a sale, and a profit, and I got what I wanted immediately. 

In today’s NY Times, there is an article about bargaining with retailers .  Apparently, bargaining is back in vogue.  Retailers want to make sales, consumers want to save money.  The article says that before the 1850’s, bargaining used to be common.  I don’t think bargaining ever went out of style for those of us always looking for the best deal.  In Asia, every item is negotiable.  In fact, the vendor will often chase after you in order to make the sale.  Bargaining is a fact of life for most of the world.

You’re used to negotiating car prices, but I think you should consider bargaining for anything that has a high markup.  On these items, the retailer can afford to make a profit, and you can save some money.  Everyone wins.  The following items are good candidates for bargaining:

• Jewelry
• High end consumer goods (TV’s, furniture)
• Any type of service (car repair, home repair/remodeling, event planning and services)
• Anything being sold on commission
• Anything that’s available cheaper online

You should approach bargaining with a plan.  You need to know how much an item sells for both in your local market and online.  If you have a competitor’s price on hand, the retailer will be much more likely to bargain with you.  If you’re able to determine how much an item costs the retailer, you’ll have the upper hand in negotiations.  However, that information may be hard to come by.  When I’m shopping in China, I usually start out with a starting bid of 10% of the asking price.  They expect you to bargain, so the prices are marked up accordingly.  Don’t be afraid to walk away from the sale.  It’s one of your strongest bargaining tools.  If the retailer knows that they’re going to lose the sale, they may change their mind very quickly.  Also, don’t be afraid to mention the competitors.  Retailers usually have an idea of their competitors prices.  If they know that you know you can go somewhere else for a better deal, they’ll be more willing to bargain.  In my opinion, everything’s negotiable.