I’ve written previously how we enjoy garage sales and hunting for bargains. A crucial part of getting deals is knowing how to haggle or negotiate. It is a skill worth honing because in essence many financial transactions require some type of negotiation. Over the years we’ve haggled prices on cars, homes, and medical bills to name just a few. Right now on the American Express site “Currency“, I share some tips for saving money on your rent. Basically it comes down to this: The more skilled you are at haggling, the better you will fare at getting price reductions.

My husband grew up in a family of farmers and learned the basics early – never pay full price and always haggle. It seems like nearly every purchase was negotiated and bargained for – farm equipment from the local tractor store, milk from an uncle’s dairy farm, vegetables from the farmer’s market. Whatever it was, he enjoyed watching his Father go through his method for getting the best deal and we now apply those steps in our own negotiations:

Set A Dollar Limit First, I determine what I want and set a dollar value of how much I am willing to spend. This is a crucial step because it will come into play later when the negotiations are heating up. Sometimes I give myself a spending range; I aim for the lowest price but will accept a price anywhere in the range. If you are shopping at a garage sale, know what you are looking for and know how much you are willing to spend. This obviously will require some adjustment if you are just browsing for good deals and are not looking for a specific item. But the basics remain – always strive to pay less.

Distance Yourself Emotionally When I find something I want, I do not make a big deal of it. I don’t let my emotions show that I really want this item, even if it is something that I’ve been searching a long time for. A simple question gets the haggling started, “How much do you want for this?” This establishes a basis for the future negotiation of the price. Alternatively, if I am having a garage sale, my answer to this question is “make me an offer.” 

Negotiation Begins After an offer has been made it’s time to make a counter offer. The actual numbers are exchanged. You definitely do not rush this step. You must give them time to respond and it may take more time than you would like. Learn to appreciate and become comfortable with silence. Getting to “yes” may take a while.

Decision Time After a reasonable amount of time has passed, if I really am unable to negotiate to an acceptable price, I just say “no thanks” and walk away. Sometimes just doing this will cause them to agree to my terms and sometimes it won’t. This is where the above step of setting a dollar limit comes into play. I know the actual dollar amount I am willing to spend and if I can’t negotiate to that price, I just walk away.

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