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HOW TO NEGOTIATE, BARGAIN AND HAGGLE

1.0 OVERVIEW; NEGOTIATING, BARGAINING AND HAGGLING

Bargaining is a lost art. A hundred years ago people went to a general store and bargained for just about everything. Modern retailing developed the concept of a fixed price which saved time and consequently money.

Today we are expected to bargain for a few things such as a new or used car, but many people feel uncomfortable. People do not want to drive a hard bargain.

When people do bargain, it often boils down to this very simple negotiation: the seller offers one price, the buyer offers a lower price and after a while they split the difference. For example a seller might offer a used car for $3500 and the buyer offer $2500. When they split the difference, the selling price becomes $3000. In most cases the seller will put a higher price on the car expecting to be bargained down, so selling it for $3000 was just about what he or she was expecting to get.

However, there are many other ways to negotiate. The trick is knowing how. In the next couple of pages we will show you how you can save a bundle.

And there are other reasons to learn the art of bargaining.

Virtually all sales people are trained in the art of bargaining and persuasion. This means that they have heard most of the arguments you can bring up. They know how to manipulate a situation to their advantage. They know how to reply to most questions. If you walk in unarmed, you are at their mercy. You had better learn their methods. You need to protect yourself from these tactics.

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