Consumer goods: Haggling hits the big time

American consumers are driving a hard bargain these days, said Olivia Barker in USA Today, haggling over the price of everything from stainless-steel appliances to designer handbags. “It’s basic bookkeeping: With the economy in dire straits, retailers have to move those refrigerators (and color TVs and sofa sets), which means that crafty consumers are getting their mattresses for something less than the sticker price—and their delivery for free.” Tighter budgets are a big factor behind the question of “Can you do better?” But that’s not the only reason sellers are behind the 8-ball. The Internet has made comparison shopping easy for anyone, and consumers have learned to shop around “thanks to years of comparing prices online on PriceGrabber and hunting bargains on Priceline and Craigslist.”

These days, you can negotiate just about anywhere, said Kristi L. Gustafson in the Albany, N.Y., Times Union. The key to “haggling with confidence” is knowing exactly how much the item fetches elsewhere and how long that particular model has been sitting on the sales floor. It also helps to have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. “Someone who is willing to walk away—and that means actually walking, not just threatening to leave—has control of the situation.” Another bargaining chip: cash. “Companies pay a fee to the credit card companies every time your plastic is swiped. Offering to pay in cash saves them this fee—and can save you a few bucks.”

Haggling is as much about human nature as it is about economics, said Jennifer Davies in The San Diego Union-Tribune. You’re more likely to snag a bargain when you have a good rapport with the salesperson in the first place. “If you go into a store where the clerks are all over you, you have a good chance to haggle versus a store where no one will give you the time of day,” says Steven P. Cohen, president of the Negotiation Skills Company. When you’re ready to dicker, tactfully ask whether the salesperson can discuss price. If he can’t, politely ask to speak someone who can. You want to be persistent. “But you also don’t want to be a boorish brute.”

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