7 Tips for better haggling

 Death of the wheeler dealer?        Is haggling a dying art in our internet age ?

Fans of TV shows like Flog it and Bargain Hunt see examples of contestants or the ‘experts’ asking for the bric-a-brac and antique dealers for the best deal. It is a genteel form of haggling. American Pickers shows more of the skills of haggling and the two and fro of sealing the deal. Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz travel around the United States to buy or "pick" various items for resale, for clients, or for their own personal collections. *

 

In our Internet age of comparison sites, some are arguing that haggling has been made a thing of the past.

 Auto trader magazine for example, in recent research discovered that 56% of used car  buyers paid the asking price in the last 6 months – an increase of 12% from last year.

Yet sites like Topcashback.co.uk say you can save hundreds of pounds a year.

The London Times in their Money column of their Saturday edition had an article by Iona Bain offering 7 tips for better haggling. Even though these were written for consumers in a retail environment  the principles are useful for any negotiator ( haggler).

  

Saturday's money section
in the London Times

Be Polite:  You need to get a conversation going so try a question in such a way as “ How can we get a better deal on this? “ . Keep flexible and consider proposing to pay cash or to bulk buy.

 Don’t be shy of haggling:  Autotrader’s survey of 5000 drivers showed that only 32% of Millennials were happy to haggle compared with 58% of 45-65 year olds. Interestingly 34% of the survey said they would prefer to negotiate a pay rise than haggle for a discount.

  

  Get that Freebie:  Salespeople are usually given discretion to give something away. However don’t accept something you don’t want. The example Iona suggest that storage on the cloud is something you will have to pay later in time and may not be as such value for you.

   

Take your time : Listen first and don’t haggle too soon. Stall with ‘ too busy at the moment’, or ‘need time to think. Shop at a quieter and less busy time.  Ben Yearsley of Wealth  Club suggests when buying a car go to the dealerships at month / quarter end as salespeople target periods are usually set for such time windows.

  Be Firm:  Try to haggle with existing suppliers but also take a look at the competition. Quite often the existing supplier will come back with a better offer.  Face to face haggling also allows you to communicate through body language and leaves an impression.

  Choose the right time and place to haggle:  Challenge any surprise hikes in prices. Which magazine in one of their surveys showed of members who challenged and got a discount were as follows:-

70% who haggled were successful with LV

Over 2/3rds with Saga, Direct Line, and Arriva

Fewer than half were successful with John Lewis, L and G, Churchill and More than.


Go online  sites like:-

Ratedpoeple.com for Trades people

Carwow.co.uk for Cars

Bigdeal.com for energy bills.

By encouraging customers to register en masse, it can use the collective buying power to save consumer hundreds of pounds on utilities.

To be a successful haggler you need to set a spending target for how much you are prepared to spend and research the market.  Good luck hagglers ( whether buyers or sellers)

Related Links
* http://dave.uktv.co.uk/shows/american-pickers/

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