Bargaining & Haggling

There were a few news stories this weekend about how shoppers should haggle with retailers to get better prices. As one who had a retail business (in addition to my regular job) for over 20 years, let me tell you exactly how things work.


You can normally haggle over big ticket items (appliances, electronics, musical instruments, etc.) in big or small stores. If the mark up from wholesale cost to retail is 100-125%, there's a great deal of room for negotiation if you're looking at a $1500-$5000 item. The merchant still has room to make some profit.


Small dollar items are another matter. There is nothing more frustrating than having a customer haggle 10-15% on an item $50 or less. I've had customers ask if I'd take 10% off a $10.00 item. Please go shop somewhere else if $1.00 makes that much difference to you. It isn't worth the retailer's time to deal with you.

Antique shops and shows are notorius for giving customers at least 10% off the purchase. The little known fact is that most antique dealers build that additional 10% into their prices knowing that customers expect them to come down 10%. The customer then is not actually getting a deal, they are simply paying the market price, but feeling better about it.

As a consumer, you can ask and haggle, but more than likely you're not getting a better deal. You're probably just getting the fair market price or you're getting a reduced price for an item that the store promoted or will be promoting at that price eventually. If you are truly bargain hunting, check the clearance aisles or start going to liquidation auctions.