Wherever you are, sooner or later you will have to haggle. How do you do it?
When on the market, either in Mexico or Thailand, or in a luxury car showroom, haggle when there are no other people beside you. The seller will not give you a discount, if other buyers could start demanding a lower price, as well.
The basic rules of haggling are as follows: be polite and do not raise your voice at the seller; speak clearly and calmly; do not display your interest in this product.
Prepare to haggling in advance. Find the minimum and the maximum price for the product or service, make a printout of the price list, thus depriving the seller of the slightest opportunity to bluff using your ignorance.
Your first offer should be no more than 50% of the value. Let the seller be outraged and bite his nails or nervously twirl his finger near his temple – it will just cut the ground from under his feet, and you will profit. If you are on a Turkish market, go the paradoxical way and lower your offer, showing the seller that the more he haggles, the less you will offer him. This way works smoothly.
When bargaining or purchasing goods, ask the seller if the price includes delivery and whether you will have discounts on future purchases, as you are now their regular customer.
Not only subtle psychologists, but also those who have a keen eye for defects, succeed in the art of haggling. You can say that a thing is defective, but you could buy it for half price. This can be applied to goods from the shop window, or seasonal clothes at the end of the season, which are difficult to sell.
Pretend that you are going to leave. It also helps when you get out your money and start counting the bills.
Another way of haggling is to prepare a definite sum of money and tell the seller that you have no more than that (you can even show it). Then he will think how much he can take off rather than set a higher price.
