Kip Tips
Overcome Your Fear of Haggling
Don't be afraid to use this money skill to your advantage.
By Cameron Huddleston, Contributing Editor, Kiplinger.com
June 8, 2010
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I don't mind haggling on the phone to get a lower price (see my column on negotiating to lower my cable bill). But when it comes to wheeling and dealing face-to-face, I balk. My husband, on the other hand, won't hesitate to talk his way to a better deal. In fact, he just saved us $200 on a bill from the plumber because he wasn't afraid to negotiate.
The water heater in a rental cottage behind our house died. So when he got a quote from the plumbing company, he asked if we could get an hour of labor knocked off the cost because we were frequent customers. Then he got another hour knocked off the total after questioning whether it was fair for the plumbers to charge us for time they spent driving back and forth to their warehouse to get parts.
Fear of offending someone prevents me from negotiating with people the way my husband does. If you, too, struggle at times to haggle, see this post on WiseBread about four things that might be holding you back from negotiating deals. Once you know how to overcome these roadblocks, you can follow our tips on how to bargain in this slide show.
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Reader Comments (2)
Posted by: Roberta at 06/09/2010 10:29:54 AM
I am not afraid to haggle in person. I did that when I went to purchase my blinds. I asked if there were any sales discounts or promitions going on. Because I was close to a particular ammount, they knocked off 10% of their price. Never hurts to ask. The worse that can happen is that they say no
Posted by: btxusa at 06/09/2010 07:07:48 PM
I have NEVER been good at haggling. However, when we purchased our 2003 Prius in Dec 2002, we took the extended warranty, no questions asked. When I got home and read the Toyota-Prius discussion group, I discovered that we had paid at least $400 too much. The same policy was available elsewhere. In Texas, if you change your mind on an insurance policy, you have something like 10 days to request a full refund IN WRITING. Of course, you can't have filed a claim already. It is the LAW that the refund MUST be made if everything is done correctly. I got our money back and we went to a different salesman and purchased the cheaper policy. When it came in, it was the "Red" instead of the "Platinum" which was the ONLY policy that covered a Prius. I called and told the salesman what they had done and told them that I knew they wouldn't want people to think they were dishonest -- they made the changes. We got the correct policy at a cheaper price.