BlogHer - Shopping Trends In The New Economy: Neo-Haggling And Layaway - Comments

"you catch more bees with honey...

neo-haggler — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:42:06 -0500

This blog shows that consumers have the power to put value on products and services.In this economic climate we (consumers) need to leverage neo-haggling, and not rely on sticker price as gospel.Neo-haggling is an evolving art that can benefit ALL of us and has potential in changing our retail landscape in America.Lesson: value and cost CAN BE interactive. Vendors are not the authority on consumer purchases. Consumers can play too. One thing I always try to remember as a self-proclaimed neo-haggler when it comes to haggling is that “you catch more bees with honey than vinegar”.You get further in haggling when you do it with a smile. Follow my blog and adventures in neo-haggling.com.

"Haggling" vs. "Negotiation"

maria.tseng — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:25:08 -0600

Why does "Haggling" summon up a sun-burnt sook with characters in exotic dress gesturing to the accompanyment of rapid-fire speech, whereas "Negotiation" changes the scene to business people doing sophisticated "important work?"

Haggling and negotiation use same process, the same techniques and have the same goals. Who values what at what rate?

Just as in business, it's important to know what's important to the other side, and how important. What's negotiable and what's not.

I try to appeal to people's helpfulness by opening with something like "Can you help me with the price?" When buying high margin items such as jewelry where the price might be more elastic, I try offers with real value such as "can I get a better price if I pay in cash?" While buying cars, I try to use relevant information such as "it's the beginning of the next model year so I'm sure you'd like to sell this model to make room for the new ones." For unusual items such as a petite extra small sweater, I try "this is an unusual size, can I get a break for it?"

As the blogger said, stay friendly, stay positive, and be persistent. Almost everything is negotiable if the other side gains the value that is important to them.

Lay Away is in comeback mode

TodaysBudget — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 08:53:33 -0500

Nice article and yes, layaway is making more and more of a comeback. This weekend in the SF Bay Area, many of the stores are starting to tout a layaway plan.

Neo-haggling works in Europe very well but in the states, most of the stores don't empower people on the showroom floor to change prices. This is especially true in department stores and box stores.

I think my sister has been

queenmother — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:49:29 -0500

I think my sister has been "neo-haggling" for years. She is definitely of the policy of ask and ye shall receive. Lately I have to say I've been doing the same thing, flat out emailing companies whose products I use and saying "could I have any coupons?" Everyone so far has obliged, and generously. I think companies are just happy to keep your business right now.

I think my sister has been

queenmother — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:49:27 -0500

I can't help but always

MrsWsKitchen — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:41:27 -0500

I can't help but always associate price haggling with my time living and travelling outside of the US. It's an art and a skill to haggle respectfully and know how to get the best deals at everyday markets. (For example, in Korea, it's bad luck to lose your first sale of the day--they will sell items at deep discount just to get you to buy.)

I can't say that I'm great at it here. However, I can say that my husband once worked at a hotel, and there's a huge push for the desk associates to sell out the hotel--even if it means selling a room at a ridiculously low rate. It's all negotiable. I've been moderately successful at negotiating room prices for myself. Other prices to haggle on: taxi fares, flights and other trips.

Don't forget, too, that when you have a customer service issue be clear about what you want to restore your satisfaction with the store--this is another excellent way to hone your haggling skills. Customer service staff have flexibility in offering discounts and freebies and other incentives.

I love the recommendation to haggle for repairs. I bet it would work for tailoring, too. And the re-emergence of layaway makes my heart happy, I must say!

Amanda
Mrs.W's Kitchen

Shopping Trends In The New Economy: Neo-Haggling And Layaway

Elana Centor — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 02:04:22 -0500

Neo-haggling is being hailed as the latest trend in shopping.It is the art/passion of looking and asking for a discount on everything you buy. I didn't know it but I am a leaning-neo-haggler. While I don't haggle for everything I buy, I absolutely haggle on many items.

The Sunday Chicago Tribune had a front page story about Neo-Hagglers.

Their ranks are growing. Half of consumers surveyed in April by
BIGresearch reported they have started haggling over auto repairs and
appliance and electronics purchases. More recently, nearly 60 percent
of Britons surveyed said they are now more likely to try to negotiate
discounts than they were a few months ago.

On the surface it would be easy to say that neo-haggling is an outgrowth of a tough economy. But neo-hagglers have been practicing their craft for over 10 years on internent sites like eBay and Priceline.

For haggling- adverse Americans, eBay and Priceline provide the perfect environment to hone haggling skills--they offer anonymity. When you bargain with a computer you can be a lot bolder than when you try to do it face-to-face with a human being.

There is a thrill to putting in a low bid and having that bid accepted.Whether I need to rent a car, reserve a hotel room or buy a designer handbag, I go to web sites that give me the opportunity to do some bargaining. I'm rarely disappointed. I have rented SUV's for $25, stayed in a four-star hotel for $86 and purchased a brand new designer handbag for 50% of the retail price. And yes, it was authentic.

It was only after neo-haggling online for several years that I got the confidence to try it in person. My opportunity came when I needed a hotel room in Wilmington, Delaware and I didn't have reservations. It was 11:00 at night. I was tired and none of the hotels in my price range had vacancies. I finally went to an upscale hotel and asked how much a room would cost.

They quoted something in the $260 range.
I didn't want to spend that much for eight hours of sleep and said to the clerk, smiling, " I was hoping to spend about $120.00 for the night."

He went back to his manager and came back with a different price. We chatted some more and in the end I agreed to pay $135 for the room.

The thing that is so wonderful about neo-haggling that it cheers you up so much. It makes you feel smart and it makes you feel financially responsible. It is a very rare feeling for me to feel financially responsible.

The Non-Consumer Advocate offers up some lines to open up the haggling dance.She knows what she is talking about, she has haggled and won at Target.
.

Lines which I find work well without being offensive to the seller are:

“Is this a firm price?” or “Are your prices firm?” or “Are you able to lower the price on this?”

This puts the seller in the position of either offering a lower price, asking you what you’d like to pay, or saying that yes, the prices are firm. My experience has been that most vendors are perfectly willing to haggle.

To get a sense of how ready Americans are to neo-haggle,clarkhoward.com is reporting that Macy's was forced to release a statement that they do not haggle.

Calgirlfiance decided to haggle over the cost of repairing her husband's watch.

We ask the serviceman how much it costs to replace the strap and get the battery replaced. The battery was $21.70 and the installation of the band was $15, so the total was going to be about $37.

Both my husband and I were hesitating, so I asked the watch serviceman if he could do it for $30 total. He first said that he didn't set the prices, then I frowned. He then said that he would go and check. While the serviceman was gone C told me that he didn't like bargaining for services that he would rather pay the extra $7 since he thinks people don't do as good of a job with a service when you don't pay as much. I completely disagreed since I thought it was pretty clear cut what he was going to do. Well the serviceman came back and told us that he could do it for $30!

It probably took an extra 2 minutes to save $7.

At the same time Americans are embracing the art of neo-haggling, they are also beginning to rediscover the lay-away. I like to think of lay away as paying it forward. It's been thirty years since I bought anything on lay away but in the days before I had a credit card, I used to buy clothes on layaway.Today's Budget explains how it works and which stores are currently offering layaway plans.

Kmart has hired kate from John & Kate plus 8 to be their layaway spokesperson . The Wall Street Journal is also writing about the increased interest in layaway plans including online layaway.

Several layaway Web sites sprung up earlier this decade to fill the void left after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other major retailers discontinued the seemingly outmoded service -- and they are also reporting a big bump in business. ELayaway.com, which offers iPods, Hewlett-Packard laptops and clothes from the Gap on virtual layaway for a 1.9% fee of the cost of the item plus taxes, said traffic has increased 91% over last year. Customers can choose eLayaway as a payment option on affiliated Web sites or can shop at www.eLayaway.com, and receive the item in the mail once the payments are made in full.

Elana blogs about business culture at FunnyBusiness