Just thought about this question, see I haggled with a stall owner I see every time at a local comic con I go every year, lovely chap and we always have a little cheeky back and forth about certain figures or collectibles.
What about you? Did you ever haggle once for a particular thing you liked? Or are you the straight person who buys it up front?
I’d like to know!
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Well this explain my vietnamese neighbour’s behaviour, she’s always complaining about store prices and trying to get stuff discounted. Her day is made if something was on sale, even if it wasn’t something she needed. It feels like a win for her
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Yes for sure, a farmer or artisan dealing in smaller volume knows their costs, and will deal for bulk buy etc. Modern corporate sellers know their fixed cost of procurement, warehousing, profit required, and logistics costs, so the price is the price…unless you can deal at the upper corp level for huge buys
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No. Haggling has zero appeal and makes me feel like an asshole. I want a set price that is predefined, and I want the purchase process to have minimal friction. I don’t want to have to argue with someone when I buy things.
Do you negotiate your salary or the price of a car? Same thing to me
Really depends on the object. If it’s a collectible item with a value that’s open to interpretation, I sometimes do, especially if I’m considering buying multiple things. (For example, CCG cards priced at $20, I might offer $70 for a playset of 4.) Those things don’t have firm market value (or that value fluctuates frequently) and there’s usually an easy way to look up a price range quickly to get a sense for what’s a fair or reasonable offer.
If it’s something someone made and is selling, it feels rude to me to haggle. The item has no real market value because it’s something they made; the price is what they’re willing to sell it for. I’ll either buy it for that price, or not buy it at all. I guess the exception would be if they’ve got a sign inviting haggling, which I’ve seen at convention spaces on rare occasion.
No and I hate that its expected and I hate when people do it to me. I price my items at what I want for them, I am not playing head games where I price them above what I actually want so you can feel like you’re winning when you haggle me down, thats what everyone else in the resale space does and I find it stupid and manipulative. Just pay what it cost or find something cheaper, price what you want to get for it and stop pricing way above asking so you can have “wiggle room” to negotiate and make people feel like they are getting a good deal. Its like playing a game, when all I want is to exchange money for goods.
If someone posted a second-hand item a month or two ago and it’s still available I’ll make an offer. All they have to do is say no.
Some people don’t quite get pricing and that they seem to want to hang onto their junk (they are selling) rather than let it go for a reasonable price.
One guy had a B/G router on Craigslist for the price of a new AC/X router. I sent a helpful message “hey these sell for $5 because they are obsolete, at your price nobody will buy that except a grandma that knows nothing about WiFi.”
He replied with a tirade of nasty insults, that I ignored. Few days later he emails against asking if I want it for $10.
I replied that I don’t want it , it is obsolete, I was trying to help so you don’t sit on it without a sale. And he replied with more swearing and insults.
3 months later I see it still for sale, and still too high. So I could not resist a little “I told you so” message.
No. If something is too expensive I simply move on. I get anxious simply conducting commerce in a regular environment, like my desire to buy this thing is an intrusion on the shopkeepers day.
I also refuse to buy from places, usually burger vans, where the prices are so small as to be hidden until you get to the front of the queue. If you’re going to say “what do you want” at the exact moment I’m weighing up the price/object ratio, I’m out.
I’ve traveled a bit and so appreciate the culture of haggling. One time while in Panamá I needed an SD card. The Baroness is from there, so we were out with a few cousins going to the mall and big box stores. Of course everywhere was charging like 3x what it would cost in the US. So at the last shop I just laid it out that I could get the $45 card for $15 in the US so asked if they’d take like $25 or something. She was a little confused as haggling isn’t super common, at least in the modern shops. So she went to go check with the manager. He came out from the back. Indian guy. He just looked at me, the only white guy around, and was just like “yeah we can do that.” Had a look to him like he appreciated the encounter. On the way out one of the cousins was gobsmacked that it worked, like he had just witnessed real life magic.
I do sometimes at yard sales or craft markets, like if I’ve found a big pile of stuff I want, I’ll offer a reasonable round number for all of it. If I’m only interested in 1 thing, I won’t haggle unless it’s priced a little too high.
When I hold my own yard sales, jeebus, nearly everyone wants to do it and it wears me out. But I’m looking to unload my clutter so I wheel & deal.
And then there’s car buying…
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I don’t need to try hard every single transaction in my life. Contact me when you are satisfied with your circle jerk haggle powers and you are ready to share the real price with me.
I’m bad at haggling but I try to do it when buying used items on online marketplaces.
I find it frustrating and annoying. I am willing to pay extra just to not do it
