[Oregonkiwi]

I thought this article was interesting - has anyone had success negotiating retail prices? I've never been brave enough to haggle but it sounds like it might be time to start.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10393655

Shoppers haggle for bargains as stores battle for business

Sunday July 30, 2006
By Miles Erwin

Bargain-hungry shoppers are haggling thousands of dollars in discounts as chain stores compete for sales.

Canny shoppers are using bargaining tactics more commonly seen on the streets of Bangkok and India to win the best deals on goods ranging from sofas to jewellery, hi-fis and fridges.

And a survey by the Herald on Sunday suggests most shops are ready to offer a bargain to clinch a deal.

With retail confidence down and sales slow, there's never been a better time for bargaining down prices, according to Consumers' Institute chief executive David Russell.

So the Herald on Sunday went shopping and found the merest hint of a haggle should see the price drop 10 per cent. And if you're a pro, you can shave off more than 15 per cent. With big ticket items, the savings are in the hundreds of dollars.

[Cardy]

HI in NZ if you are a cash buyer you would be silly not to haggle they love it.We went to buy some bedroom furniture which was priced at $1500 and i asked the assistant if a small mirror and set of drawers was included in the price knowing full well it wasnt ,it was an extra $199 she said no but i will do you a deal for cash and went away to work something out on her calculator. While she was gone i said to my wife i,ll buy it if she says the whole lot for $1400 she duly came back and quoted me the whole lot worth $1699 for $950 with free delivery. I couldnt believe it!! WE said jokingly i was a shame she didnt sell washing machines as we wanted a front loader and she said go to the shop next door we own it they will do you a deal, We saw a front loader we liked for $1050 and they sold it to us for $900 again with free delivery. MY wife went to buy a tv and asked what deal they would do and they gave us a stand free that sold for $120.. Get ready to haggle its worth it !! cheers C :) ardy

[Nienke]

Absolutely! We aren't used to doing this at all, but gave it a try when we bought a fridge and a microwave (as cash buyers). We managed to get some 600 dollars of the price and got free delivery as well. Not bad for a first try! :nice1

[mossum]

hi

I've always haggled here in the UK - espcially at comet / currys etc - I have never paid full price for large electrical items yet . My DH goes & hides :laugh !! I've even haggled at asda - buying bulk items from the deli - it costs nothing to try & saves you dosh ( that can be better spent on wine :p )

vic x

[Questor]

We bought a fish tank today - it was marked up as a special at $350 for the tank and cabinet - he gave us the lot for $330 - and didn't charge me full price for the gravel and water conditioner I bought with it too!!

[veronica]

being on the other side of the fence here I really dislike the 'doing a deal' thing. We put our prices as low as we can so that the prices are good for all our customers, but when we did a clearance for a shop that went down (but was known for doing deals) we found it interesting to note that a lot of the prices were above the RRP of the items. Thats how a lot of the shops do deals by putting the price of the item above what they want to sell it at. So in effect you end up paying arund the proper price anyway. We just set our prices low and don't do deals, to me thats fair trading.

[katandbob]

hi

I've always haggled here in the UK - espcially at comet / currys etc - I have never paid full price for large electrical items yet . My DH goes & hides :laugh !! I've even haggled at asda - buying bulk items from the deli - it costs nothing to try & saves you dosh ( that can be better spent on wine :p )

vic x


Yep, ditto, I am a committed haggler, and Rob goes and hides too :laugh

we saved tons off everything we have bought so far, we replaced our LCD tv and also the DVD recorder, for less than I sold our one in the UK for! so I made about £90 profit!

On our furniture, I think I saved about $2000 or more, I would have to get out the receipts to work out the exact amount, but after going out and buying stuff, I went back into the shop I got our bedroom set in, and said I wanted a tv cabinet to match the coffee table, and they even knocked off $100 on that! and it was $399.

I hope my next haggling challenge will be for a house!...hope I don't loose my touch

Kat ;)

[Tia Maria]

I hate haggling, but as we were buying a fair amount for our kitchen from Harvey Normans, I thought I'd give it a go. They gave us money off everything, even items on sale, and we saved several $100s, so its definitely worth the initial uncomfortableness.

The phrase I found easiest to use was ... "What's the best price you can give me on these items?", it felt better than saying "can I have a discount?"

Different stores do have different policies. In Freedom Furniture, they said they only do discounts when you spend over $5000, but even though we didn't spend that much, they gave us free delivery and a $100 voucher, which we could spend later.

So its always worth a go!

Cheers

Tia

[Oregonkiwi]

Thanks for the good advice everyone. You've all been getting some impressive bargains! I still feel, like Veronica, that it's fairer to have one price for everyone - but if stores are marking up in expectation of haggling, I guess we need to play their game.

[katandbob]

being on the other side of the fence here I really dislike the 'doing a deal' thing. We put our prices as low as we can so that the prices are good for all our customers, but when we did a clearance for a shop that went down (but was known for doing deals) we found it interesting to note that a lot of the prices were above the RRP of the items. Thats how a lot of the shops do deals by putting the price of the item above what they want to sell it at. So in effect you end up paying arund the proper price anyway. We just set our prices low and don't do deals, to me thats fair trading.

yes, its nice that your honest and charge a reasonable rate, and yes I realise that they over inflate their prices.....it seems to be a NZ theme!! But because most of the shops do then you need to try bartering them down. And every CENT saved is helpful in this crazy journey.

houses/fokelore about NZ culture/prices of stuff.the biggest fib that I found from the NZIS literature .................the fact that you may find that the shops close early/ and not at weekends :laugh :laugh most supermarkets are open 7 days a week, and countdown heres open 24hrs. and Sunday till late, ...most shops are open and longer than the UK sunday 10-4. I think the only shop I found that wasnt open on a sunday was Selectrix, who are southland owned and so give their staff sundays off.

Its a good job they are all open longer, working 40hrs monday to friday. if you want to spend your weekends doing something other than shopping you have to go late at night in the week.

PS Veronica?? what do you sell? :)

[Smiler]

I detested asking for money off and haggling but also got fed up with hearing 'I got so and so for $x'.

I have given it a go and the OH was amazed. We got $300 off the price of our already in the sale sofa's and free delivery, $100 discount on my panasonic microwave, $50 a week knocked off our rent, etc.

Yesterday we went rug shopping, to one of those bargain sales that usually aren't. The type that advertises on the telly by shouting at you. We saw a huge wool rug priced at $3500 down to $1000. We both liked the design and the guy offered to get it down from the rack so we could see it on the floor.

OH looks at me and says yes we like it. I nodded and said is that the best price today please? OH turns a lovely shade of red.

The sales bloke wandered off to see his guv who knocked another $200 off :clap

It looks great on our floor. :nice1

So while I certainly wouldn't try it in Countdown or New World, I'm not frightened to give it a go now.