Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Aggressive Bargaining Part 1: When it Pays to Be a Dick

I'm going to introduce my more aggressive bargaining techniques one at a time in shorter posts.  Be warned: while these techniques do frequently work, there is a chance that you will offend the seller.  Try these at your own risk.

The first technique doesn't really have a name.  I used it once when a seller had been exceptionally rude and unwilling to bargain.  It doesn't always get a reduced price but it does leave the buyer with a feeling of satisfaction and a far lighter change bag.

For this technique, all you have to do is pay in pennies.  Juvenile?  Yes.  Simple?  Exceedingly so.  Effective?  Decently so.  I have seen this technique used three times and it successfully lowered the asking price twice.  

I admit I did not think of this technique; one of my friends invented it when he was buying an item for his sister.  The buyer wanted $1 for the item even though it had the original price tag on it marked at $1.  Sadly, the buyer insisted on the full price so my friend paid in pennies.  The second time my same friend tried this technique was on a $3 item.  This time, after counting out maybe $1.50, the seller gave in and gave him the item for the money he had counted out.  The one time I tried this technique I got the item for my asking price, provided I not pay in pennies.

Keep in mind this technique will probably anger your seller.  Please only try it when the seller has been rude/hostile and unwilling to bargain because it gives garage salers a bad name.  It is pretty rude to be honest.

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