Haggling/Bargaining - What was your best bargain?

[tmvijai]

I believe in bargaining. I was brought up from my childhood that not every price is final. May be its because I grew up in India. I find the same concept valid everywhere not just in India. Bargaining has grown to be a common practice in America. People don't hesitate to bargain these days.

Did you ever put a good fight bargaining to get deals? What was your best bargaining experience and what you learnt from it?

[Goldy1]

I bargain often. I dont' have figures, but I bargained a great deal on a guitar in the $800 range with a list of over $1000.

I recently bargained hard wood floor labor. I am fair though. I paid him well, but secured a nice deal for myself that was fair.

[Goldy1]

ps
My dad tries to go so low that is can insult people;not my style at all.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I rarely bargain. It does not even occur to me to do so.

I suppose people are more apt to bargain for items which will be expensive regardless of any haggling. There is more to be saved on large purchases. But I have not bought anything expensive for a while. Besides that, I tend to shop at chain stores where nobody seems to have authority to dicker unless the merchandise is damaged.

[GREENBACK]

I bought a boat years ago that listed for 15k and talked it down to 12k. I've had other similar deals with boats and other vehicles. Never accept sticker price on either one even if they claim they're on "sale". It disgusts me how badly they overprice vehicles.

[tmvijai]

I always tempted to bargain, looks like its in my gene. I feel accomplished if I get to win my bargain. I am not sure whether its good or bad. I bought my car, house everything after tough bargain. I even helped people to bargain from on their purchases. I don't see it as embrassing or insult act until you ask too much from it.

Bargaining is a skill and it doesn't actually come easy. You need to look for time and place to do bargaining. Recently, I bought a 2nd fridge from craiglist. It was $75 which is a good deal. Since I am getting used one and especially thru craigslist, I was tempted to bargain. So I went and picked up the fridge but just asked politely can I offer $65 instead of $75 and she agreed can't say no. That works sometimes but not all times.

[gamecock43]

I am bad at bargaining. I wish I could do it. That being said when I purchased my 08 jeep wrangler I got it for $20,500 rather than $24,000 it was listed for. I have always been very proud of that. But the only reason is because I researched it for months and went in knowing exactly what the dealership paid and minutia costs associated with it. They still made about $600 off the deal, but I got a great bargain.

[tmvijai]

Originally Posted by RedThunderBird

it is my blood , I love it ===== finding a better deal === as far as I am concerned most if not every thing is negotiable in life ==== do your research ahead of time , and once you have an idea of what you want ==== go for it , even if it means walking out , which I done many times [ only to receive a phone call telling me they meet my ask price ==== that is when it gets better if I have not bought what i wanted at the price I had in mind , I ask for an incentive to go back ] if I had I make sure to say thank you , and to keep them in mind when I want something else , that I may be interested

Yeah, I know. Not everything bargainable. Thats correct! I am bad at walking out. But i am slowing trying it out in my 2nd rental property which I am looking to buy. I putting an offer which I feel is good and they will come back and say they have other offers to just see whether people go up on them. But I am trying stay with what I offered. If its not this house, there is always other opportunities. I am trying to get to that mentality.

[nmboone]

I haggled on my car and got a better price. I think I could have done better though! I always think about how I probably could have gotten a CD player put in instead of a dumb tape player (for a 2003 car!!) Suprisingly my family has never thought to haggle on cars!! Rediculous! But they are reeeally bad with money.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

50% off face value of baseball tickets in May.