The only time haggling should ***ever ***be involved is when you are buying something used from the actual person who owns it. Otherwise, WTF?! Why would I haggle with someone who is essentially nothing more than a stock boy in a tie?! I’m not buying it from you Chester, but from a faceless, soulless corporation! 
it’s called dickering.
The thing that’s wrong with haggling is the very slanted playing field, at least in some situations.
Specifically, when the seller is a professional at selling whatever he’s selling (e.g., used car dealer) and the buyer isn’t so sophisticated (e.g., typical individual used car buyer, not a professional reseller). The professional has much more knowledge of the field than the lay person, much more knowledge of the product in general and the specific item in particular, more knowledge of the market. So he’s got a major advantage in the haggling. The buyer is less likely to have any really useful knowledge of the product or the right price that he should be paying for it.
Hey everybody reading this thread. Just noticed it’s a duplicate of this thread and the other one has even been noticed already and reported for closure or merging.
So we should all quite posting in this thread and go to the other one instead. There’s a poll there besides.
Anything short of a car, I figure the amount of money that was the difference between what I paid (the listed price) and what I could have paid if only I had bargained is what my time is worth. Having the transaction as brief as possible is key.
Buying a house was the worst, although I suppose it went okay because neither I nor the seller was using an agent, it was just the two of us, and I got the impression that she didn’t like bargaining either. I made an offer that was 91% of the asking price, she countered with a number that was 93% of the asking price, I said fine. The conversation took about 45 seconds, we were both mortified.
Mortified? Why?
I despise haggling. For most of my life I worked in a service industry, which means I essentially sold my time. I priced my services fairly, maybe even less than the market would bear. Clients who tried to haggle were literally trying to take my money.
On top of all that, the seller is well versed in the art of haggling. With the used car example, you do it every few years, he does it a few times a day, 6 days a week. When you tell your friends that your going to buy a used car and they start giving you tips and tricks…he’s seen them all.
Having said that, one trick a friend of mine told me when she was selling used cars is that everything is negotiable. She went on to say that if you can’t get the price of the car down to where you want it, ask them to give you more for your car, most people don’t realize you can also haggle with the value of your trade in.
I bought a used car once. (Well, several times actually.) The salesguy named a price. I offered $1000 less than that. The guy said “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhh” with a face like I had just stabbed him in the gut. But he took the offer.
I think because, to me, and I think to the seller in this particular case, the whole process implies the asking price was unfair to begin with, and I was also worried that she might think my offered price was offensive, akin to saying “you have a terrible house that is only worth a low price.” I get that this is a subjective thing, and that people who don’t mind negotiating do not come into it with those assumptions, but that’s how it feels to me.
Before this went down, everyone I knew (my lawyer, my parents, random people on the street) kept hammering the point that this is what you are supposed to do when buying a house. I got the feeling the seller was in the same position. We kind of rushed through it without looking at each other.
Yes. I hate it, and think it’s demeaning to both parties.
Merged the two threads for ya. Best way to get a mod to do it is report your own post. I wouldn’t have known about these two threads otherwise, other than happening on them naturally, haha.
I’m not a haggler and I don’t like haggling. I never do it…
…however I took a trip to Indonesia last year and was there for two weeks. Apparently everyone and their mother haggles over things, especially things sold in the street. I didn’t even need to haggle myself, the sellers would usually just do it themselves as I’d walk away.
Commonplace (extremely common, especially at tourist attractions) were people putting things in your face and naming a price and then, as you walk away and say no, the price gets lower and lower and lower. So I know that, if a haggler wanted to, this would be their paradise…but again, I wasn’t big on it.
When your job deals with restoration of antiques, custom and one-off parts, you give somebody a price and that is the price.
If you move on the price you lose credibility and look like you’re purposely inflating your prices.
If you place an ad on craigslist and don’t want to haggle put “PRICE IS FIRM” in the ad.
I’m not a fan of haggling. I generally just consider the item and decide if it is worth what I’m willing to pay. Time is money and the process of bargaining can chew up time, impact feelings and even question one’s integrity. I must admit though: I’ve watched my dad bargain, and while I may walk away somewhat mortified, I often am amazed at his success. I also dislike when people compare one item to a similar item of another brand, saying outright- ’ they are exactly the same '. Then vehimently arguing over it. In the end they generally come out looking uneducated on the item. It’s not worth it in my opinion.
It depends.
I sold our big wooden swingset a few years ago. put it on Craigslist for $200 and within minutes I was getting offers. About half wanted it for half or less but others were legit. I ended up taking the ad down within 4 hours because I had over 35 hits. I sold it that night to the first person who would come by and give me half.
NOW, some may say, why didnt I ask for a higher price? Simple. I thought $200 was fair. I wouldnt take less but I wasnt out for more since I knew it would be going to another family with kids like mine.
I hate to haggle. I refuse to do it. I won’t do business at a place where the sticker price is a starting point for a game. Just tell me how much you want to pay, if I like the price I’ll pay it, if I don’t, I won’t.
I’m living in china right now, just can’t get used to the haggling thing.
In any kind of market, and even some shops in shopping malls, nothing has a price on it.
When you ask the price, the salesman pauses for a few seconds, then his/her eyes bulge (as though actually seeing dollar signs over your head) before saying a price perhaps 10 times what is reasonable.
And you have to walk away, and be called back several times to get a price anywhere near what the locals pay. This gets particularly annoying when you change your mind and decide you don’t really want the item at all, and then the salesman is chasing you right down the street, thinking you’re playing hardball.
What’s strange is that there are markets where most of the people wandering around are foreigners e.g. the fake market. Yet here the selling technique is the same as everywhere else, so you see the majority of expats leaving empty-handed looking traumatized…
Anyway, in summary, I don’t like haggling.
I don’t mind negotiating on price. What I hate is an insultingly high first price.
True. Except, when the salesman is paid on commission, he has an interest similar to that of an owner.