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Does Haggling Make You a Smarter Shopper?
March 22, 2008
The New York Times posted an article about how shoppers are getting price breaks by reviving an age-old retail strategy: bargaining. Bargaining culture once confined to mom and pop stores is now being used at mega-stores such as Home Depot and Best Buy.
My own mother is living proof of reviving bargaining techniques at stores like Macy’s. I had been dying to have a 5 Quart Kitchen Aid mixer which retails between $250-$400 depending on the color and store. Using a little research and a tiny bit of fibbing my mother told sales associates it was on sale at Amazon.com for $200ish. It was selling on Amazon for that price but what she failed to mention was that the one on Amazon was pre-owned and a color that was not adaptable to most kitchens. A little storytelling and my mom came home with the mixer for $180—the additional dollars off were from coupons sales associates kept in the register—ones’ that were mailed out to cardholder customers that she asked for by just saying, “Do you have any coupons?”
Maybe it’s the ailing economy or have consumers found out they do have the upper hand when it come to negotiation because establishments have come to the realization that a single sale might not be that profitable, but a stable relationship with a shopper would be.
Being that I am an owner of a jewelry store I find my customer’s continuously asking for a deal. We are not a discount store but will I be a little flexible when it comes to a very large purchase—yes. I want to work with the customer so that I can retain them as a future client. Due to the internet and sluggish economy my customers are shopping more and armed with more knowledge than the customer 5 years ago who would pay sticker without a blink of an eye because they truly wanted to see a mom and pop store grow. Not anymore—the influx of people moving to Charlotte are from big cities such a New York and FL—I lived in FL for 26 years and there isn’t a place today that you can’t haggle—it’s not the thing you only do at car dealerships anymore.
How do you deal with hagglers? Do you bend the rules because you own a mom-pop store? Do you find those customers who walked out with a bargain are repeat customers of yours?
Posted by Shanu Singh Guliani on March 22, 2008 | Comments (1)
