Re: The Art of Bargaining
Take someone with you. That will boost your BCM (Bargaining Confidence Meter) by a minimum of 150%.
Secondly, you must remember that you can not bargain effectively if you are in love with the product. You have to be willing to walk away if you don't get a good deal.
Thirdly, random bargaining may seem the quickest method, and it can usually lead to some discounts, but its the most inefficient as well. You end up spending a lot more time bargaining, and even then you have no idea if you were being smart or taken for a ride. Random bargaining means that the vendor says the price is $100, and you counter-offer by saying "I'll give you $50" in the hope of settling for, may be $75. Its time consuming and, in all, fairness, has no basis. The real bargaining means doing your homework and have an objective basis for your counter-offer. So, if the vendor says $100, you can counter-offer by saying "the other vendor is offering me $65, if I buy two, so what can you do for me to get closer to that price" or that "I can order it online for $50 plus shipping, so can you match the price" or some other objective criteria to support your counter-offer. If you are not sure about an alternative objective criteria, then you fish around by saying "do you offer any discounts if I buy more than one?" or "when do you expect to have your next sale so I can buy this at a more reasonable price?" or something to leave a hook for the vendor to offer you a lower price.