How to haggle

How to bargain - even if you’re petrified of doing it!

Ok so some people seem to be naturals at bargaining and then there are the normal folk like you and me. The thing about haggling prices down, no matter what the situation, is confidence. You have to ooze it from every pore without looking cocky - ok no wonder people find it tough! 

I only started haggling and bargaining when I met Tim and he started taking me to car boot sales. At first I let him bargain down things for me, but I slowly started to do it myself and once I’d had a go it was so much easier and I did feel a lot more confident.

Here is my guide to haggling - its not exhaustive by any means but hopefully it will help give you the confidence to give it a go - you never know you might not stop, and you'll start getting all your shopping at 60% of the price!

Do:

Smile - this is one of the most important things to remember. The more you smile the happier you will feel, the more confident you will look (even if you don’t feel it) and the more likely the seller will warm to you, which is very important.

Assess the value of the item. This is really important too (ok I’ll stop saying that cos most things are important on this list!) For example, at a car boot a DVD will usually sell for £1-3, a pair of topshop jeans could fetch anything from £2-7. When you know what the second hand price is you can judge how much you should be paying - scout around for a bit to get a feel for prices or just have a look on ebay beforehand (though prices may be inflated on ebay)

Now the first thing I do is pick the item up and inspect it. Sometimes the seller will notice and offer their price. If not, catch their eye and ask “how much do you want for this?” without any emotion. If you think you’ve found a vintage Chanel 2.55 then hide that excitement!!!

Even if you think the price is fair, halve it. (unless the price is just too good not to accept, in which case, accept it!) Its a good rule to start with, the more experienced you get then you might even cut the price down even lower but you don’t want to offend the seller or they might not even sell to you at all. 

At this point the seller may do one of two things. They may refuse blankly and say that it is their lowest offer or they will offer another slightly lower price. If they refuse, up your offer a smidgen and see their response. If they flat out refuse again, it is time to make up your mind - take it or leave it. The best response is “you drive a hard bargain, I’ll take it” or “you drive a hard bargain, I’ll leave it” Simple as that. You’re not offending anyone if you don’t take the item, so don’t feel obliged.

If the seller begins to haggle then offer slightly higher price. If they continue to drop the price after a few goes you’ll probably find yourself or the seller agreeing at a price quite quickly. Never go over your maximum amount in your head (what you think its worth).

If you’ve offered your final price, the most you are willing to pay, and the seller refuses to budge, walk away. It may not work, but sometimes you will get called back and they’ll accept your last offer. Its also worth remembering to come back towards the end as if the items still there, they may just give it to you at your price.

There’s another tactic if you want to try it out: tell them you’ve only got a certain amount left. This only tends to work towards the end of the car boot when people just want to shift it and avoid taking stuff home. It is at this time when you can really go in with a low offer (lower than 50%) especially if you see them cutting prices for other customers.

Don’t:

NEVER say how much you want to pay for the item until its nearing the end of the bargaining process. Even if they ask you outright, just keep asking them what price they want for the item. This keeps you feeling confident and in control of the situation.

Do not get angry. It really isn’t worth it and you can always walk away if somebody winds you up.

I hope that helps, if I think of any more tips I’ll drop them in another post. Looking at the weather its not hopeful for car booting tomorrow (sunday) so I may just show you a few of my past bargains. Happy haggling!