Seniors, Hagglers for a Deal on the Price?...or Do You Easily Pay the Asking Price?

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
In a Flea Market or Garage Sale setting, the seller may be asking $10 for a vase. A haggler who's interested in buying it, may say, "I'll give you $5". The seller may come back with "You can have it for $8, that's as low as I can go". The haggler/buyer counters with, "I'll give you $6". The seller, after a moment's thought replies, "$7"....they settle for a sale of $6.50.

Are you a haggler, ready to save a couple of bucks when you can on a purchase like this? Or, are you like me...not comfortable or experienced in bargaining, and usually just pay the asking price? :dollar:
 

I hate haggling. If the price is too high I don't buy it.
If the price gets lowered as I walk away I keep walking because I consider the item was overpriced to begin with and the seller lacks integrity.

What makes me into a return customer is when I receive an unsolicited discount at the cash register.
There is an electrical chain that I sometimes frequent that has done that several times and I tend to go there first now when looking for some whitegoods.
 
It's not part the culture we grew up with here and I'm a little like Warri in thinking they were trying to rip me off so why buy from them? That only applies to retail shopping though. The people selling in shops aren't the ones who usually set the price.

But looking back I never hesitated to haggle over a deal for a car, or a house. I got a grand knocked off a car just from picking up the cash from the bank, stuffing it down my jeans, and plonking it on his counter. Sure he was a crook but the car was okay (I've still got it) and I was a grand in front so who's complaining?

I was several grand in front when I bought a house in Qld after twisting arms and pointing out a few faults in a buyers market, and got 5K knocked off this block of land with an offer of instant bank transfer, no buggaring about with finance companies. Haggling can be fun.

Of course we all ask more than something's worth don't we? Profit is what makes the world tick. I put 15K more on the Sydney house price than I'd have paid for it but I got what I asked because the buyers were more intent on getting it than indulging in hard haggling. Their loss. Am I a crook for ripping them off? Yep, guess so.
I didn't even use an agent, it was a private sale through word of mouth. They were a young Italian couple who my neighbour tipped off about the sale as they wanted to live near her Mum who was just around the corner and was distantly related to my neighbour. Worked out wonderfully. Gotta love how Italians network. It would have cost them much the same through an agent anyway. I tacked the agent fee amount onto the 'value', so the 'profit' came from the agent I didn't use rather than them really. Everyone was happy, except the Real Estate Agent... awwwww.

If you don't haggle with Asian or M.Eastern stall holders they look at you funny. They expect it as part of the deal, they think were a really strange lot to pay the original asking price of anything. They seem to find it kind of insulting in a way that we don't play the game.

I'll haggle at a flea market but not a garage sale for some reason. Garage sales seem much more personal and things on offer have more meaning to those selling than at a flea market. It seems rude somehow.

You must watch more American Picker type shows Warri, learn how it's done with panache.
 

We watch American Pickers sometimes, it is amusing to see those two guys haggle with the folks they're trying to buy from. Pawn Stars is another show, where people come in to the pawn shop looking to make the most money on their old junk or treasures. I know it's much more common to bargain with sellers in other countries, than it is in the U.S.

I'm the type that feels funny even asking for a discount on a floor model in a store that's been dented...but I'll usually make a go of it. Sometimes they say, no discounts...then I usually don't buy it. I leave any haggling up to my hubby, like when we'd buy a new car, etc...he's much better at it. :)
 
I learnt in Egypt that there is an etiquette to haggling which we in the west aren't aware of and don't understand.
We are considered crass and clumsy when we attempt to strike a bargain with people for whom haggling is the cultural norm.
I preferred not to attempt it.
I hate tipping too, for much the same reason.
 
Yes the haggling game with different cultures is a minefield. If you don't haggle at all you're thought stupid but if you don't do it just right you're a barbarian.
If you go in too hard or 'loudly' they find it insulting that you are inferring that they are overpricing, so you have to pretend you're trying to help them out by paying them something for it but have to apologize that you can't afford to give them as much as you feel they deserve to have for it.... it's complicated, and very politely total bullsh*tting but it's kind of fun to play. I've been practising (semi-illegally on bulk orders) on eBay sellers for years and seem to have twigged to the Chinese rules of play but haven't bothered with the M.E. mob, they don't have anything I want.

M.E. horse and camel traders have a secret haggling language that is totally silent and out of sight. They extend their hands and throw a cloth over them. Then they use a tapping code on each others' hand to settle on a price. No one else ever knows what price was paid but the buyer and seller. Tricky eh?

The one basic rule though is always keep it polite and respectful regardless of the character of the seller. You're the one trying to save a sly buck, not him.
 

:lofl:


Having been a major flea-market addict in years past and having been a flea-market vendor as well, I can honestly say that I despise haggling.

When you're selling a used car, okay, maybe it's good to bargain a bit, but when a customer at your garage sale asks if you'll take ten cents for a twenty-five cent item?

No, uh-uh, sorry. Leave me a little pride, will ya'? If the item means so much to you fifteen cents shouldn't matter. I see people like that as being cheap and self-centered.
 
Love Monty Python.

I don't haggle, I just pay whatever somebody is asking. If it's too expensive, it's too expensive and I'll just move on. That is what I used to do anyway, I never go to garage sales or Flea Markets anymore, it is an addiction for me, but I kicked it a few years ago. Now the only thing I collect is dust.
 
If I think the item offered is at a fair price I won't haggle but if it overpriced, I'll ask once if they take $$$. If not, I walk.
 
In some cultures, not haggling is an insult to the seller. Personally, I find the whole business boring. If you're asking $10 and I feel like paying that price . . . sold. Somebody else got it for $6.50? Big deal. I don't care. I bought myself a vase I like and I'm happy with it. If I don't have the $10, I don't buy it. Easy. Have more important things to think about than money. Every time somebody just has to ask me how much I paid for something . . . for instance, a new car . . . I always answer, "Too much!"
 
Oh I think that is the ultimate of rudeness asking somebody.."How much did ya pay for that ? .."how much did that set ya back?"

If the person plans on buying whatever it is too, then I don't mind if they ask, but just being nosey, mind your own business.
 
At the flea markets I encountered some real whackadoos - if they couldn't haggle they'd get this surprised look on their face and start fuming.

I was selling some silver and turquoise jewelry once, and I had set fair prices on them. This lady comes along, all decked out in jewelry, and offers me a quarter of my price. I told her to try the balloon vendor down the aisle, and she got all huffy and puffy - "I'm going to report you to the management!"

My reply? "Go ahead - and I'll report you to Animal Control."
 
I seem to have developed certain protocols about haggling, I don't (didn't, don't get out much any more) do it everywhere or often, only with those who seem up for it. I don't do it at a 'craft' stall if the seller is the maker of the items for instance.
I used to sell handmade junk jewellery and had thoughts of setting up a stall but the weather and the hassle put me off. I flogged mine in the pub on trivia nights, and around the aged hostel. The oldies loved it. I sold for pretty much cost there and they bought stuff as presents as many couldn't go shopping.
I took orders at the pub and made stuff in whatever style they wanted and charged accordingly. I always took a few bags of charm bracelets etc as well and rarely brought much home. It was a sweet op and turned a nice profit. The bootscooters were great customers for 'western' themes. I did a few discount deals with some for a bulk order, usually of rodeo and football team themed stuff. No one ever made a really insulting offer though.
The publican was okay with it as I didn't bother anyone, they all came to my table to see what I'd brought in the little bags. I never went to theirs or made a nuisance of myself. I always let them ask the price, I didn't 'market' it to them. If they weren't interested in buying they didn't ask, worked well all round.
I had deals going with a few shops too, I'd leave a display rack on consignment and if they sold some they got their commission if not I took it to the pub. The best turnover was at the tattoo parlour for the 'bad boys' macho stuff. They love their skulls, swords, and hand-grenade necklaces

It was unheard of to haggle here until maybe the late 60s when the immigrant population started to gear up and the culture got a bit more flexible.
 
I recently bought a car using one of the car buying services(Truecar) and that really helped. I was surprised how easy that was. And soon I will be attempting to buy a condo on the gulf coast for a 2nd home. I will certainly try to negotiate a better deal than the asking price. But normal day to day stuff, I'm not into haggling.
 
I totally love to negotiate on prices ! I enjoy yard sales, since that is one of the places where you can offer your amount on the price of an item, and come to an agreement with the seller. Of course, some people who are having a yard sale do not like to negotiate on prices, so in that case, I either take it or walk away if it is more than I want to pay. Sometimes, I will come by later, just before they close, and if they still have the item, then I will offer for it again. If they have been refusing a lower price all day, they are now realizing that it is not going to sell, and they have to pack it back in, or throw it away; so they may be more willing to negotiate.
Bartering is similar, but involves trading something you have for something that you want; and I enjoy that a lot also.

The selling price of something is whatever a person is willing to pay for it, so sometimes it will sell right away, and sometimes not at all.
 
I will sometimes at flea markets. And, also on the phone with customer service when I am trying to get a lower price on things like cable, etc.
 

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