Why develop rules for something that is essentially every man for himself? Because with the economy where it is, the consumer has great power, and as we all know, with great power comes great responsibility. So if you want to be a responsible haggler, try out the rules below.

• No Lying.  Remember that salespeople CAN get in trouble by lowering a price for you, so your lie could potentially get a person fired. Plus it’s just bad karma.
• Don’t haggle unless you are prepared to buy. If you spend time haggling with a salesperson, you had better be prepared to buy when you get your price. If he agrees to your price and you don’t buy, you are flat out wasting his time when he could be selling to other people at higher margins. Plus your chances of being able to work with him again drops and he is less likely to budge on price with other people because it didn’t get him a sale.
• Walk if you don’t get your price. If you are trying to haggle and it doesn’t work you should thank the person for the time, accept it and leave. Haggling doesn’t always work, but if it doesn’t work and you purchase anyway, you are accepting defeat.
• Be courteous. Remember, no one owes you anything other than to let you buy the product at it’s marked price. Buying in a retail store is not like buying a car, where you constantly feel like they are trying to gouge you. Being civil and fair is the key, so don’t be pushy and always be grateful, even if it is thanking the person for their time when you leave.
• Be a good customer. If someone gives you a good deal, let them know that their faith in you was not misplaced. Go back to that person the next time you shop, but still expect another deal. Also, don’t haggle with the person every time, you don’t want the guy that really hooked you up to dread seeing your face again because you are going to try and milk another deal. Relationships are always key in haggling.
• Remember that you don’t always need to haggle to get a good deal. There are many ways, aside from haggling to get a great deal. Check out Secrets of a Bargain Hunter to find out how!

These rules may not only be key in helping you get your price, but they also ensure that the salesperson doesn’t have a bad experience with someone trying to haggle.

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• The more you buy, the more of a discount you can get.  Mary and I went shopping for a new TV for her parents at Best Buy, and I allowed them to sell us more stuff because they could discount other items more.  All in all, her parents bought a 46″ LCD, a 26″ LCD, a PS3 (Blue Ray player), a sound bar (If you can’t have wired surround sound, this is the next best thing), and an HDMI cable (DO NOT BUY MONSTER CABLES.  They are a rip off, I don’t care what the salesman tells you.  If you need cables, go to www.monoprice.com or look up blue jean cables).  All in all we saved about $1000 because I was able to haggle and bundle with extras.

• Talk to the manager. Some stores are giving employees the power to knock off 10% or so, especially in the current economy, but it’s still better to haggle with a manager.

• Ask what you might think are stupid questions.  Even if there are no sale signs posted, ask if there is a sale going on, when a sale will be going on, or if there is a sale price they can give you.  It allows a good entry into haggling.  They may tell you that the item will go on sale next week so it might be best to wait, but that gives you leverage to ask them to discount it now.  It also breaches the subject of a discount nonchalantly.  If they discount it or give you a “sale” price, ask them if they can do better!  I asked the manager at Best Buy 3 different times if he could do better, and on the 3rd time he finally said no, he couldn’t, the computer wouldn’t let him discount it any more.

• Look for floor models or imperfections.  Mary and I were at Crate and Barrel looking for things for our new house and we found a lamp we liked that was a floor model and had a scuff.  I asked the questions in the previous step, and she said she could give us 20% off for a ‘damaged’ item.  The item is by no means damaged, and we knew we could get the scuff out, so we said great!

• Ask if there are any discounts or coupons that you could use.  Many stores have mailers that contain coupons, and most have them behind the counter to scan to help entice you into buying.  If you don’t ask you won’t know.

• Let them know that you usually shop there. Customer loyalty is a huge plus!  The woman I haggled with for my running shoes was obviously more willing to talk discounts after I mentioned that my current shoes were purchased from one of their other stores.  She then pulled out a mailer coupon to give me a discount!

• Be likable.  Last summer when Mary and I were working on our current place of residence I needed paint and paint supplies so I went to Sherwin Williams.  The salesman was younger and I was cracking jokes.  When I got up to the counter, I half-jokingly said “are there any: I just graduated from college, moved cross country, don’t have a job, and am about to get married discounts?”  He laughed, and said absolutely.  He gave me 30% off!  Also, don’t be pushy.

• Walk Away.  If you aren’t getting the deal you want, don’t be afraid to walk away.  This advice is particularly good to use on hungry car salesman, but car buying is a whole other beast.

• Offer Cash.  Cash is a huge bargaining tool.  It shows that you are serious and ready to buy, it also means a great deal to smaller shops.  Small shops will be more inclined to discount your product(s) more if they know you will pay cash.  There is nothing worse than discounting a product and then seeing another 2-3% of the purchase price go to credit card processing fees.  Don’t worry about your precious credit card points when you haggle, just worry about price.

• Research.  If you aren’t sure about a product get the salesman’s card go do your research and come back.  Also, see a related post: Secrets of a Bargain Hunter.

These tools will most likely allow you to get some good discounts.  Use these pointers wisely, and always be prepared to buy when you get a discount, if you get your price and decide not to buy, it could discourage the salesperson from coming down in price for the rest of us!

Related posts:

1. The Rules of Haggling
2. Why Is Money Taboo?
3. The Party Always Ends

I love a good deal, in fact I love a good deal so much that I have bought just about everyone I have come across.  Hard Drives, RAM, flash drives, shoes, sports equipment, you name it, if it’s a deal, I buy it.  In college, I bought deals to the tune of about $5,000 in credit card debt by the time I graduated, after all who can refuse a 400 gig Hard Drive for $100 (2 years ago)?  Did I need these things?  No.  In fact I ended up giving some of it to friends when I moved cross-country.  Is buying something because it’s a deal stupid?  Yes, but by running up my credit card bill I learned a great deal about deals.

• The internet is a bargain hunter’s best friend.  There are literally hundreds of deal websites out there.  My two favorite forums are fatwallet and slickdeals , these websites contain tons of great deals on everything from shoes to plasma TV’s.  They also contain tricks and tips for getting deals and negotiating on larger purchases.  I got Mary hooked, and now she does research on these sites before she makes purchases.  Also check out Dealcoupon for up to date coupon codes.

• A sale is not necessarily a deal.  Trust me, I work for a retail corporation.  Just because something is marked as a sale, or is on “clearance” does not mean it’s a good deal, it’s marketing.  Ever notice how certain department stores have the “biggest sale of the year” every Saturday?  Sure, sometimes things on clearance are a great deal, especially in the back corners of Home Depot or Lowes, but some of the time you can find a better deal by going online and researching.

•  Coupons Coupons Coupons!  So you’ve researched online and you weren’t able to find a better deal, but you were able to find a website that has it for the same price.  I’d be willing to bet that there is a coupon that will save you at least 10%, whether it be a free shipping coupon (combined with no tax online it’s a huge bonus), x% off, or a free gift with purchase (Office Depot is notorious for these), you can find a way to make a deal work in your advantage.

• Price Matching.  Did you know that many stores have best price guarantees?  For instance, Best Buy, Circuit City, Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, Staples, and a great deal of other stores will price match to another store.  Some of these stores even promise to beat their competitors prices by 10% of the difference in price (not 10% less than their competitor).  Say that Home Depot is having a sale on a refrigerator for $999 and Sears sells the same model for $1199.  In this case, Sears would give you the better deal even though it’s not on sale:

Sears Price:                  $1199

Home Depot Price:       $999

Difference:                     $200

Sears Pricematch:         $999

10% of Difference:          $20

New Sears Price:           $979

That may be the easiest $20 you ever made, just make sure you have a clear understanding of the price match policy and the store associates should help you out with no issues.  But that’s not all; because you are now buying at Sears and not Home Depot, they may be having a 10% cash rebate (as they do now).  So if you go this route, you end up saving another $98.  Allowing you to save $118 total, for maybe 20-30 minutes of work.                       

*Warning, many stores will also offer additional discounts if you pay with their store card, this can be a great tool, but it can also be a dangerous game for people who have trouble controlling their spending habits.  Please be responsible, and if you are in over your head with debt, a discount from a retailer for using a credit card will most likely cost you more in interest than you will save in your discount.

• Check Store Credibility.  Many deals you will find online seem too good to be true.  If you find a great deal on a website you have never heard of, it would be best to check out the stores credibility before you hand over all of your personal information.  The best resource I know of for this is Reseller Ratings.  This site is filled with tons of valuable information and has a section dedicated to giving online store ratings.  So you can type in the store name and read up on them.  If they are not on this website, chances are they are not an honest retailer.

• Stack ‘em up! What happens when you combine a price match with a coupon (or several)?  I can only describe it as finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.  It can work, but it really depends on their price matching policy, the fine print on the coupon, and the competence of the salesman.  Most coupons and price match policy’s say that they can’t be combined with other offers, but occasionally it can be done (it never hurts to ask!).

• Bundle.  From my experience, this mainly works at big box electronics stores.  Most managers at Best Buy or Circuit City are thrilled to throw together a bundle of big ticket items at a discount for you, especially if you buy one of their coveted service plans that they want you to buy.  Margins are slim on big ticket items like TV’s, but they can discount stereos, cables,* and installation services because the markup is much more, therefore to help seal the deal, many times they will personalize a bundle for you.  My brother bought a 55” DLP, Receiver, Speakers, and Cables, and saved over $500 on all of it.  It is best to avoid peak times when attempting this.  (NOTE: I never recommend buying the cables from the stores.  You can purchase the same quality online for a fraction of the price at Monoprice.)

• Be nice to the person.  They are just trying to earn a buck, and many times they are still in high school.  The best way to get a deal is to treat the sales person with respect, call them by their name, and don’t be pushy.  Most of all, if you are trying to stack, and it clearly states that the coupons aren’t valid with other offers, don’t push it.

• Be Ethical.  There are many ways to try and get deals from stores, some of which are ethical (what I posted), and some of which are not.  Please be ethical, don’t lie to try and save yourself a few bucks.  Karma is very real.

Now that you know some of the tricks, it’s important to determine what defines a “deal.”  For me, deal is getting a better price than what the seller is asking, or getting additional things thrown in.  When Mary bought a swimsuit online recently, she searched a found 2 other coupon codes that she could use.  She got free shipping, and she got a free bathrobe and slippers, that we in turn gave as a Christmas present.  Plus because she bought online she did not have to pay tax (this varies by store).

Related posts:

1. The Rules of Haggling
2. Why Is Money Taboo?
3. The Opportunity Cost of Home Ownership