The Art of "Haggling" - what's right and what's not

[OnTheBranchline]

We all do it from time to time. Sometimes it can be a beneficial experience, sometimes it can be a very frustrating experience.

 

-I've seen someone haggle a vendor at a flea market over a price difference of a pound. I was thinking "really, it's just one pound?"; I guess in some people's minds, they always have to win.

-When I've tried to sell an item or two, I've had people offer dramatically under my asking price (which that is even discounted). When they do that, I feel like they are insulting my intelligence in like a "let's thrown brown stuff* at the wall and see if it sticks!".

 

*If anyone needs explanation, the brown stuff is clearly Worcestorshire sauce.

 

Anyone got any good stories?

[Kris]

As a buyer I try to get the best deal possible.

I will only pay what I think an item is worth, and will walk away if the seller won't sell for that price. (This applies to everything). I am not bitter if I don't get the item, another one will come along. 

 

As a seller I try to get the best deal possible. 

I let people know (politely) when I feel they are taking the biscuit.

The item will sell for what I want, I might have to wait for some time for this to happen. 

[Guest]

When buying, I don't haggle - I have this weird thing about it being a bit "un-British". That said, if it's not a fair price, I'll walk away. Only exception is when buying a used vehicle (bizarrely). I'll take a look at it, take it for a test drive and then decide what I'm willing to pay. I'll offer my highest price. The vendor will then slip into full-blown Del-Boy mode and tell me I'm robbing him. He'll counter, I'll stick. He'll counter again. I'll stick. He then says "surely you're not going to walk away over a hundred notes?"... the look on his face when I do is often quite amusing. Very often he comes after me and says "ok then" with a crestfallen expression on his face.

 

My wife recently spotted a pair of semi-antique 1950s Ercol chairs in a shop window. She decided on the spot that she wanted them but wasn't prepared to offer a penny more than £60 for the pair. I urged caution, but she was having none of it. She marched in and offered £60 which the dealer immediately accepted. Hardly surprising, because on closer inspection, they were marked up at £40 for the pair...

 

Edit: When selling on Ebay, I'll often add the "Best Offer" feature just to see how far folk will take the p!ss.

Edited January 12, 2018 by Pete 75C

[40F]

I would think that 95% of people are experts at that and have thick skin for the replies                                      :jester:  

[chriswright03]

Thing is how many people actually advertise at the price they want?  Most put a percentage on top knowing that they are going to be knocked back a bit.  Who for example paid full asking price for their house?

 

I agree with you Pete is does seem a bit un-British but then none of us like to spend more of our hard earned than we have to.  I in the long distance past was persuaded to do a car boot with loads of the crap we had and I put prices on that I thought stuff was worth being sensible.  Then folk would come u and ask what is your best price on that?  FFS it has 50p on it what do you want?

 

On ebay if there is make an offer option I always try and be sensible about it rather than take the michael but if I have sold on there I never put the option on and ask what I believe to be a reasonable price.

[chris p bacon]

-When I've tried to sell an item or two, I've had people offer dramatically under my asking price (which that is even discounted). 

 

In their defence they just see a price that you would want for an item. seeing if you'd take less is always worth a try.

 

Thing is how many people actually advertise at the price they want?  Most put a percentage on top knowing that they are going to be knocked back a bit.  Who for example paid full asking price for their house?

 

 

You've never brought a house off of me then.

 

I built 2, 4 beds about 10 years ago, 1 sold for the asking price and the 2nd was under offer by a pair of OAP's that P'eed me off so much that I refused to sell it to them, as they were moving next to their daughter they were adamant they were having it, so I made them pay £25k more for it. I didn't think they'd complete, but they did.......muppets..

 

I sell stuff on eBay from work, at present I'm on a shop to house conversion and things like the shop counter, light fittings, furniture, hat & coat rack...in fact just about anything has been sold with a starting price of 99p, so far I've netted about £750(?) with some amazement at what some will pay when the word "Vintage" is in the description.

[chriswright03]

I suppose house prices was a bad example because of the gazumping craze but no I don't think I have bought one of you.   Last couple of houses I bought I made cheeky offers because they had been on the market for a while and had chains break.  

 

Yes the word 'vintage' makes me laugh.  Err you mean old and knackered!

[Bernard Lamb]

Thing is how many people actually advertise at the price they want?  Most put a percentage on top knowing that they are going to be knocked back a bit.  Who for example paid full asking price for their house?

 

 

 

Me for a start.

Houses in my road come on the market very infrequently.

I have been here for 38 years and five families out of the 15 houses were living there before I moved in.

I saw it around 2pm and had been to the solicitor, the bank and the building society and every thing was agreed by 4.15.

I might have got a bit off the price but given what it was and where it was I was not prepared to take that chance.

 

Regarding haggling in general. At work we used a major supplier of NDT equipment, in particular ultrasonic apparatus for weld inspection. A new Chief engineer stuck his oar in and enquired about discounts. immediately all technical aid ceased. I fortunately had a contact and maintained a good personal relationship with the supplier but had to keep it under my hat officially. It was made quite clear to me and the Chief Engineer that haggling was not the way things were done.

I had another example of receiving a phone call at around 4 pm asking about some very scarce steel tube. It was rolled in Sweden and was not going to be produced for 6 months. I located a supply through a contact and gave the chap a price. He ranted that I was asking for a 50% premium. I told him the price would double if he did not accept within a very short period of time. He continued to rant and eventually reluctantly gave in but threatened to report my attitude to the MD. Next morning I bumped into the MD in the canteen. He just smiled and told me he had told the chap that he would get on better if he didn't try to upset me.

Haggling can work but if you persist in some circumstances it can cost you dear. The thing is you will probably never know.

Bernard 

[The Stationmaster]

When we bought our first house it was on the market for £19,250 (nearly 40 years ago).  The chap selling appeared to take a liking to us and said the agents had priced it too high - I agreed.  He then proceeded to talk down the price and I had to keep a firm grip on Mrs Stationmaster to stop her agreeing with the figure he proposed each time he reduced it.  I finally agreed with hime that a fair price (his suggestion) would be £16,500 so that was what we paid.  The cost of our present house was much simpler - we agreed with the builder what he would charge before he started work and what each stage would cost with detailed estimates - worked superbly.

 

Selling at car boot markets was simple - that's the price and it really is the best I can do, selling at auction is simple - merely agree the reserve with the auctioneer, selling on Ebay is roughly similar although no reserves were put on although we did set starting prices (best result we ever got was 50 times the starting prices, which was in double figures).

[jonny777]

Thing is how many people actually advertise at the price they want?  Most put a percentage on top knowing that they are going to be knocked back a bit.  Who for example paid full asking price for their house?

 

 

 

I did, but only because it was not in a very good internal state.

 

When I last moved jobs I couldn't move house until my job was made permanent (which came 7 months after I started it) but I still registered right at the start with a few agents just to get details of houses for sale in the post. I saw the house (that I eventually bought) but it was just out of my price range. By the time I started looking seriously at moving house, this one was still for sale at the same price; but with wages having risen 7% in the year (yes really) and house price inflation rampant, I felt I could just afford it at a push. 

 

I offered the asking price, presumably the vendor breathed a big sigh of relief - as there had been little recent interest; and we moved in a couple of months later.  

[Enterprisingwestern]

There are two simple rules in buying and selling, be it goods, services or whatever.

The seller wants to sell for as much as he can possibly get.

The buyer wants to buy it for as little as they possibly can.

Somewhere inbetween is the final price paid which all parties are happy with, sometimes the buyer is happier than the seller, sometimes vice-versa.

It's called capitalism I believe!

 

Mike.

[PatB]

The purpose of haggling is to arrive at a price that is slightly lower than the seller wanted to get and slightly higher than the buyer wanted to pay, thus leaving everyone slightly disappointed with the outcome .

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

...When I've tried to sell an item or two, I've had people offer dramatically under my asking price (which that is even discounted). When they do that, I feel like they are insulting my intelligence in like a "let's thrown brown stuff* at the wall and see if it sticks!"...

 That might be me. On principle I won't offer more than a fiver for anything made by Lima, even if it is a 'certificated lmited edition rare minty-in-boxy collector's item'. No, it is (and always was) a cheap piece of obsolete Italian tat, which happens to have a useful moulding for me to take a saw to.

[Ozexpatriate]

I've seen someone haggle a vendor at a flea market over a price difference of a pound. I was thinking "really, it's just one pound?"; I guess in some people's minds, they always have to win.

When buying, I don't haggle - I have this weird thing about it being a bit "un-British".

This is a very culturally specific question. Negotiating a price is commonplace in many of the worlds's cultures, particularly those with cultural origins in Asia.

 

In English-speaking Western cultures, negotiating on price is uncomfortable for most people - so much so that we have created a word with negative connotations to describe it - "haggling".

 

One of the reasons that eBay was so successful is that it moved the negotiation into a anonymous space and placed the competitive aspect of the negotiation between multiple buyers, rather than between the buyer/seller, effectively letting the market set the price rather than negotiating.

[jjb1970]

It's called capitalism I believe!

 

Mike.

No, it's a trade, an exchange of goods. A common misconception, trade is now synonymous with capitalism but it is something different.

[Purley Oaks]

Thing is how many people actually advertise at the price they want?  Most put a percentage on top knowing that they are going to be knocked back a bit.  Who for example paid full asking price for their house?

 

 

 

Here in Scotland houses can be sold at a fixed price or offers over; my last three homes have been purchased by offers over - so I have paid full price plus. The asking price on offers-over houses is usually at the low-end anyway.

 

Course they're only ever worth what the purchaser wants to pay...

 

Mal

[Purley Oaks]

 

It's called capitalism I believe!

 

Mike.

Capitalism is about the value of labour. Buying a house purely for gain (rather than for use as a home) is speculation - but if you have a lot of those investments you'll be paying Capital Gains Tax in the UK when you sell.

 

Mal

[Horsetan]

We all do it from time to time. Sometimes it can be a beneficial experience, sometimes it can be a very frustrating experience.

 

-I've seen someone haggle a vendor at a flea market over a price difference of a pound. I was thinking "really, it's just one pound?"; I guess in some people's minds, they always have to win.

-When I've tried to sell an item or two, I've had people offer dramatically under my asking price (which that is even discounted). When they do that, I feel like they are insulting my intelligence in like a "let's thrown brown stuff* at the wall and see if it sticks!".

 

*If anyone needs explanation, the brown stuff is clearly Worcestorshire sauce.

 

Anyone got any good stories?

 

When I bought the Cit CX from its previous owner near Stoke-on-Trent, I spent about half an hour in his kitchen trying to beat him down to what I wanted to pay. He on the other hand was trying to beat me up and, having sort of uneasily met each other in the middle, I still wanted to try to chip away another 50 quid. Guess who blinked first?

 

The lesson I learnt from this exercise was: never try to bargain with a Northerner. You'll lose.

 

Capitalism is about the value of labour. ....

 

I thought Labour was all about "fomenting the overthrow of capitalism"? 

Edited January 13, 2018 by Horsetan

[dvdlcs]

I frequent charity shops for a couple of interests, and I'm amazed when I hear/see people trying to haggle with the staff over the price of something. First of all, it is charity shop prices (not as low as they once were, but still cheap to all intents and purposes), and secondly the monies are going to charity! [Yes, I know that most charities are essentially businesses these days.]

 

Some charity shops have introduced signs explicitly stating "no haggling".

 

Occasionally I've been offered a discount. Once a group of items came to £21.50 and the person behind the till said "call it £20", to which I accepted. I didn't ask for the discount and I had the wherewithal to pay the £21.50 total that I had accumulated.

[Bernard Lamb]

I frequent charity shops for a couple of interests, and I'm amazed when I hear/see people trying to haggle with the staff over the price of something. First of all, it is charity shop prices (not as low as they once were, but still cheap to all intents and purposes), and secondly the monies are going to charity! [Yes, I know that most charities are essentially businesses these days.]

 

 

 

From time to time I hire the local rugby club. I go through my requirements with the manager and agree a price. On the day tea and coffee is available. We never bother to count how many cups are consumed.

The manager receives enquires from some people who argue the toss over the last penny and then push the point by claiming that they are a charity. He politely points out that the rugby club is also a charity and takes them for every penny he can. As I wrote earlier, you can often get a better deal by not wasting peoples time with haggling.

Bernard

[Colin_McLeod]

so I made them pay £25k more for it. I didn't think they'd complete, but they did.......muppets..

 

 

Making such derogatory comments about your customers who have paid you good money is not very British either.

[Jonboy]

Making such derogatory comments about your customers who have paid you good money is not very British either.

I would suggest it is, doing so in public less so....

[asmay2002]

Capitalism is about the value of labour. Buying a house purely for gain (rather than for use as a home) is speculation - but if you have a lot of those investments you'll be paying Capital Gains Tax in the UK when you sell.

 

Mal

No it's not.  Capitalism is about investing capital.  Hence the name "capitalism". If it was about labour it would be called something else.

Edited January 13, 2018 by asmay2002

[jjb1970]

No it's not.  Capitalism is about investing capital.  Hence the name "capitalism". If it was about labour it would be called something else.

 

Capitalism has become one of those terms which is devalued by constant abuse and misapplication (a bit like "turbo" and "digital") as it is now used to describe globalisation, trade, corporatism, McDonalds and many other things that people don't appear to like very much. Even economists seem to apply differing interpretations and often use it as a generic term which means "not socialist" or "not communist".

[chris p bacon]

Making such derogatory comments about your customers who have paid you good money is not very British either.

 

 

I would suggest it is, doing so in public less so....

 

 

At any other time I'd say you had a point. But in the case of this pair they pleaded "we're poor pensioners" but wanted to pay for the house (near £300,000) in Cash to avoid paying any tax, I explained that it wasn't possible but they didn't stop asking including ringing me at all times of the day and night to keep pushing it. I said what they wanted to do was illegal and I wouldn't do it, I also said they would have to pay more as I didn't trust them and thought they'd get the point and walk away, but they coughed up the extra. 

It was also a shared drive and due to some clauses on the planning permission (tree protection measures etc) I did not sell with a 'right of way' but as a restricted covenant giving access over the drive. 12 months after moving in they started trying to take control of the drive in its entirety  and for the following 3 years made the life of their neighbours hell. They sued planning over the clauses and lost,  They did their utmost to get the neighbours to move but failed. They alienated all around them with their drunken behaviour* and tried all manner of things to get me to sign over the covenant to them. The Police have been called over 10 times when they've started fighting with anyone that doesn't agree with them.

They lost and moved out to rented accommodated elsewhere, they now rent the house out but are unable to keep a tenant for more than 3-4 months as they turn up to 'inspect' in the early hours of the morning (drunk) 

They really are not nice people and the term 'Muppets' is the kindest thing I could say about them I'd prefer to call them but I bet the filters stopped me.

 

I would say that had I known what they would do then I would never have sold to them, the extra money I got was not worth what they put the neighbours through although the neighbours are grateful for everything I did and said they found it funny that they paid over the odds for the house. I still see the neighbours and have stayed very friendly with them so I must get something right sometimes.

 

Bad form maybe, but before making a judgement consider there might be reasons for saying it.

 

*They were reported 6 times that I know of for drink driving but weren't caught in the act.