I’d have slipped him my phone number if he ever wanted to borrow it in the future, too. That’s so sad 
I saw this with older people when I worked at Borders. I got the impression that they did not shop for books often and were utterly shocked at how much they cost. One woman thought she should get a volume discount if she bought two books. I told her the best I could do was send her coupons via email. That really wasn’t up her alley.
I’ve also been surprised at how low pawn shop folks will go when they haggle. I don’t even have to do anything–if I gesture toward an item, they start dropping the price and throwing stuff in. Ah, the pleasures of the grey market.
I’m not normally much of a haggler and I think it’s cultural. Generally speaking in this country, there’s only a few venues in which haggling seems expected. That’s why, when you get on a cruise ship to the Caribbean, they will tell you on the ship that haggling is expected in the straw markets. I bought three t-shirts for $10 in the Bahamas once and would have been happy to pay full price (maybe $5 per shirt) because they were so damn cheap, but I was told haggling was expected, so I haggled. If that’s viewed as tacky, then why is that the advice you get before you go to places like that? My understanding is a lot of those trinkets are made/shipped in for pennies on the dollar and even at your haggled discount, the vendors are making a killing. If that’s not true, I hope someone fights my ignorance.
Anyway, I have this shoe fetish. I have frequent buyer cards at about every major shoe store chain; to the point where the employees of my favorite stores recognize me when I walk in. (“Oh, hey! We’ve got some new Steve Maddens right over here.”) My local Famous Footwear has this fantastic pair of yellow-cheetah print sateen stiletto pumps that are to DIE for. In my size. On the clearance rack. Bingo!
Except, on clearance, they are marked at $80. Nope. Too spendy, even for shoes, for me. I go back a month later. Fabulous shoes are still there, still marked at $80. I go back again a month later, shoes still there, same price. I figure, hey these shoes aren’t moving because they are overpriced for clearance and maybe the manager would like to get rid of them so let me just ask. Can’t hurt to ask, right? Manager informs me that someone special-ordered them, they are allegedly couture or something, and $80 is supposed to be a great bargain price. (That store doesn’t normally carry high-end shoes, or much of anything over about $60.) He said he could give me another 10% off if I used my FF card (which is what I’d get if I used the card with any other pair of shoes, that’s not a deal). I told him if they ever considered actually selling those shoes at a reasonable price to call me and I gave him my number. I really want those shoes but I’ll be damned if I’m paying $80 for yellow cheetah fuck me pumps. I kinda got the impression that he’s not really allowed to haggle on the price because of some corporate store policy. Or maybe he thinks some sucker with a bigger fetish than I have will spit up $80. But I’ve been back to the store several times and those shoes are still there, after months. Last time I was in there, I noticed they’ve started getting little grease stains around the heels from so many women trying them on in the store. I’m going to try one more time to get him to come down on the price before I finally just give up and accept that those shoes are never going to live on my feet. I never ever ask for discounts at shoe stores and buy shoes pretty frequently (especially any Steve Maddens or Madden Girls marked down below $30.), so it’s not like I’m being that annoying customer who haggles on everything and buys nothing. Quite the opposite. Just this one time…those shoes could have a lovely home on feet that love them, but no. They have to live, lonely and desperate to serve their purpose, in the stupid clearance rack in the store. Such a shame.
In Jaimaca I was interested in purchasing a bag of locally grown produce from a young gentleman. He told me two hundred American dollars was his asking price. In the US I would have happily paid $500 for similar produce, but I knew he was asking for an inflated amount.
I chuckled and told him that although I was from the US, I wasn’t stupid. He changed the subject, asking if I’d buy him a beer. We walked over to an open air kiosk and had a few Red Stripes. And we chatted about all manner of things.
I eventually walked away with the locally grown produce having spent $70. Fifty for him and twenty for many beers and a big tip. Good times.
More than once, I’ve been surprised at how willing some small shops are to haggle. I tend to shop at slack times, and I’ll be browsing, examining a few things, and the manager or owner will come up and start puffing the item. I’ll answer truthfully that I’m just looking, and suddenly I’m offered a special deal. I have to admit, sometimes I’ll haggle and I might buy, if the price is to my liking. But that’s only if I was in the market for the item anyway, and only if I have a pretty good idea of what the going rate is.
I rarely set out to haggle. Yeah, I know if I’m going to buy a house or car, that some dickering is expected and built into the price. Usually, though, I’ll accept the marked price as the price.
And a small comment from my cashier days…a lot of people are under the impression that the minimum wage cashier can actually negotiate on the price. Ahhhh, no. Usually the clerks need the shift leader or manager to approve of a price break or comping someone. The worst example of this that I saw was a guy who informed the whole Subway shop that he was running for a very small political position in the city. When his turn came to order, he wanted a chicken sandwich. It was about an hour before closing, and the shop was out of chicken. So this guy proceeded to harangue the sandwich maker about giving him extra meat on another sandwich, seeing as how the would-be politician had his mouth all set for the chicken sandwich. And he wanted free chips and drink, too. This guy kept going on and on about how he should get something for free, because the shop was out of something, and never mind the growing line of people who wanted their sandwiches. I was next in line, and as the guy was (reluctantly) paying full price, I told him that I’d remember who he was in the election…and I’d remember that he’d had his hand out for whatever he could get. I didn’t get anything for free, except a really big grin from the cashier.
I don’t have a problem with haggling. I don’t see why it would be embarassing or humiliating. I don’t usually haggle at chain stores except, for example when I am buying the last of something that is a floor model or has a small defect-then I’ll ask if they can discount the price. If I’m in an independent shop, especially if I’m buying more than one item, I’ll try to get a deal. I’ll usually just ask “Is that your best price?” or “Can you give me a break if I buy both of these?” and if they agree I assume that they can afford it. If they say that the price is fixed then I either accept it or say “No thanks” and walk away. How is that humiliating to either party?
Almost all the haggling I do is for things sold on craigslist. I don’t mind, although it’s pretty funny how bad some people are at haggling. I saw an ad the other day that said “I want $200 but I’ll take $150”. Way to negotiate yourself down, buddy.
I also routinely get emails immediately after I post something asking me what I’ll drop the price to. I always just say “I’ll consider your offer if you’d like to make one”. I’m not going to drop my price for the first guy to read my ad and respond.
The only time haggling bugs me is when we make a deal, then people try to change the deal. Nope, sorry. Unless there’s new information (like maybe the condition was worse than I described), I’m not budging.
It isn’t embarrassing or humiliating for me. It is for the people that work that way routinely in my eyes. It is a combination of them thinking that I would pay more for something than is reasonable and dishonest in that they freely admit through actions that they will overcharge someone who is naive or not good at haggling. Neither one of those things are good.
It is a waste of time as well for lots of people who can’t come to an agreement. It is much more efficient for the buyer and seller to know what something is actually worth to each other and do that transaction as efficiently as possible without acting like they think we still live in a barter system. It is Stone Age behavior on both sides and should be condemned as such except in special circumstances.
Well played. I’m surprised at how many people expect or ask for something for any inconvenience. Some things just occur as a part of life. I understand someone being bummed and annoyed when thingd go wrong but let’s not act like it’s a failed kidney transplant.
It’s not in any way. Good faith, polite and respectful dickering is fine.
Not everybody has a polite common sense approach as you seem to.
We use tags that say “FINAL BLOWOUT PRICE” on something we need to clear out, and it’s usually a great discount. Occasionally when someone still asks
“WHat’s the best you can do on this?” I can’t help but ask, “Do you mean , what is my final blowout price?”
When some manly man says " I Never pay the price on the tag" In reference to one of those items I respond. "Let me know if you change your mind " and walk away.
I mean, if thier ego prevents them from taking advantage of a great deal, that’s their problem.
We have a couple of ebay stores, and comstantly get offers on things we list without “best offer” Many of them are ridiculous, but , it’s the ole, “nothing ventured” I guess. But I agree, people emailing to ask “what’s your bottom dollar” get "I expect to get the price I listed it for. If you’d like to make a reasonable offer, I’ll consider it. There’s that sense of satisfaction when someone tries to low ball you on what you know is a good price , and then, after it sells for the asking price, they email you to see if it’s still avialable.
I had a question today " MAy I offer XXX on this item" The amount was about 40% off the asking price. I considered my choices in responses
“No you may not offer that”
" Yes, you can offer XXX, you just can’t buy it"
“LOL!! good one”
and very briefly , really,
“May offer you my rump to kiss?”
Took me a while to figure out exactly what local produce you were thinking of.
“mangos? Nah…pineapple? At $500 hell no! What grows in Jamaica? Some weird, exotic…ohhhh!”
Even if someone makes a totally unreasonable offer, I’ll probably come down. If I’m asking $100, and someone offers $20, I’ll probably counter with $90. But that’s probably it unless it’s been a long time with no interest. I always ask for more than I think I can really get on craigslist. Once I was pleasantly surprised and got my full asking price, but usually people expect to haggle, so I might as well use price-anchoring to my advantage.
That’s the polite way to deal with it. I’ve sent emails saying “Can’t do , X but I can do X” Sometimes the offer is so ridiculous that it seems like a waste of time to respond at all. Either they only want it at some unreasonable pirce , or, if they are really interested they’ll come back with a better offer.
If I put “MAke an Offer” on the listing I will politely respond to all offers with a counteroffer. When I get ridiculous offers on items with no “Make an Offer” I feel no need to respond to foolish offers.
A couple years ago, in St Martin, I watched as my gf indiscreetly traded cash for a bag.
When I scolded her for the open transaction, she showed me the bag of vanilla beans she scored. Weeks later, eating her Creme Brûlée, I realized we could have gotten in trouble bringing them back to the US.
Years ago my parents were casually looking for a used car. My mother was out running errands and noticed a garage sale with a car for sale in the yard. She stopped by and chatted with the owner for a few minutes. Somehow they figured out Mom was the nurse who delivered the seller’s grandson.
Before calling Dad to tell him about the car Mom decided to make a slight attempt to haggle.
“How much are you asking for it?”
“$550”
“Would you take $450?”
“How about $400?”
Mom came back with, “How about $475?”
“How about $375?”
“How ab-you know, I don’t think we’re doing this right.”
I hate haggling. It has no place in the information age. Put the bottom line price on the item and I can compare it with bottom line prices from other vendors and pick the lowest price, or the store that offers the best service or other such thing. Haggling is a source of pride for any man, but the consumer will always lose. The car salesman or other merchant does this many times per day. The consumer does it once every few years. He has superior information about the product. These guys that love to haggle need to put away their swinging dick and realize that they are losing these battles.
The only exception in my mind is for unique items like real estate, rare art, or a piece of jewelry: things which don’t have a fixed market value because they are intrinsically unique and there can be a legitimate difference of opinion over value because there is no substitute.
Update from my previous post.
So. Those fabulous cheetah print shoes at Famous Footwear? Still there as of Saturday afternoon. Walking around the store, while wearing them, I made one last-ditch attempt at getting the manager to drop the price just a little bit. Remember, those are priced at $80 on clearance. Manager still says he’s not allowed to dicker; corporate policy. He tells me the company that makes that particular pair of shoes also owns the store, so Corporate wants to make as much money as possible on those shoes. I reminded him that the shoes had been on the clearance rack for 6-8 months and as long as they are overpriced to not sell, the store isn’t making any money at all.
So then, right in front of him, I whipped out my phone, scanned the bar code on the box and found the exact same pair of shoes at ShoeMetro and at Amazon for $30. I showed him my search results, and because I’m an Amazon Prime member, I hit the “purchase with one click” button right in front of him. My fabulous cheetah print shoes are on their way!
And I totally would have paid $45 for them in the store. I hope he sends that message right back up the corporate ladder. With the availability of so many products on the interwebz, it seems like a really archaic and short-sighted policy to refuse to discount items that are not moving from the brick-and-mortar stores.
Side note: I found a fantastic dress at Old Navy that matches perfectly, but they were out of my size in the store. Again, I whipped out my phone, found the correct size on the ON app, applied the discount code that had just been emailed to me, and got a $25 dress for $12. And then I wondered why I’d bothered to leave my house to go shopping.