Nickels and Dimes
August 4th, 2009 by Bob Bly
According to an article in Time (8/10/09, p. 55), we have become a nation of hagglers.
A survey by the American Research Group found that 72% of consumers recently tried to negotiate with a retailer over the price of a product they wanted to buy (other than a car).
More amazing is that 8 out of 10 of them were successful, getting the retailer to sell the item for less than what was on the price tag.
The recession is to blame. Observes Time: “In this buyer’s market, retailer’s can’t afford to lose you, [and] any item is now fair game.”
What about you? Do you haggle when shopping, whether it’s for personal or business use?
Do you try to get vendors to charge you less than the fees on their cost estimates?
Do your clients and prospects pressure YOU to give them a price break — and do you agree to do so?
Are we now a nation of hagglers?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 at 12:52 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 4th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
It’s the old story — you don’t ask, you don’t get. Nothing wrong with a bit of sumo wrestling between buyer and seller to yield an agreed-upon value.
Even in direct marketing, where there’s no actual verbal give and take between buyer and seller, the shrewd seller anticipates questions of value in the buyer’s mind. Bob Bly and Clayton Makepeace and other successful online marketers will frequently offer a bonus with a tagline like “a $297 value.”
Such an offer answers persistent questions in the buyer’s mind: “is this really worth it to me? “should I whip out my credit card for this item now?”
And although negotiating between buyer and seller is good sport (and good business), negotiating for nickels and dimes is petty and silly.
It’s all a matter of degree and economies of scale.
August 4th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I don’t normally haggle over stuff. I usually try to save up money so I can get whatever it is I’m eying. As far as haggling goes, I sometimes feel uneasy about it. I’m not as assertive as i could be. How do I ever sell anything in my job? hah
August 4th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
I all Depends on the item, if it is fairly big ticket Haggling is a must, if it’s a $20 dollar item, not so much.
Focus on the bigger items, you will get mor ebang for your buck, spending time haggling on small items can be emotionally draining!
August 4th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
[...] View original here: Nickels and Dimes – bly.com blog – bly.co­… [...]
August 5th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
The number of potential clients asking for price breaks seems to be increasing. I get asked several times a week. I’m also starting to receive requests for “trades”. I have never traded services (though I might consider it for the right offer / service). If I lower my prices, I also reduce the scope of the work being provided to reflect the lower fee. I also make suggestions for lower priced services I offer (for instance, line-editing a piece the client writes instead of ghostwriting the project for him.)
August 5th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
As a retailer who sells (among other items) furniture, I get the haggling questions daily. We do not budge an inch on our prices. We simply tell the customer that we are offering a fair price, one that is as affordable to the customer as we can, while still allowing us to remain in business. Because of this, I lost some sales to a wheeler/dealer in Detroit. Then again, he filed bankruptcy, we’re still here (and profitable, too).
Remember that what you sell, be it a product or service, has value. You have to charge a fair price for what you offer – something that allows you to keep selling your products and services. And you have to stick to that price, never devaluing it.
Dickering and dealing just sends the message that your price was too high to begin or that you aren’t confident in what you can deliver.
August 7th, 2009 at 6:52 am
You’re right, most customers or clients are asking for discounts. Well, we can’t do anything about it. It’s better to get something than to have nothing.
August 9th, 2009 at 1:06 am
[...] Nickels and Dimes [...]
May 27th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
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