Yellow Pages
I'm generally not comfortable with haggling. I'm just not good at it. In the few situations I've been in where it's not only acceptable but expected to negotiate a price, I always come out feeling like a jerk for asking for a lower price, and at the same time feeling like I've been had for paying what I did. It's just not a pleasant experience for me. My one shining example of haggling was my recent automobile purchase. The price on the window was a good bit higher than the check I wrote in the end, and the price I paid included all taxes and fees and miscellany they normally tack on after the fact. Go me, but car sales are one of the few arenas in the U.S. where haggling is the norm.
Another haggling-friendly venue would be a swap meet or flea market. I saw a blog post at The Simple Dollar the other day about a transaction the author witnessed that left a bad taste in his mouth. It sparked a fairly interesting debate both in the post and the comments: When is it OK to haggle? Are there populations (such as children or the mentally disabled) who are off-limits? If it's for charity, do you cough up the asking price? What if the seller is (or appears to be) at a financial disadvantage? What do you think?
As an interesting side note, a friend of mine is in Morocco right now studying Arabic. I asked her about haggling, and here's part of what she had to say:
The biggest mistake most people make, and the one that I make most often as well is forgetting the value of my money. For instance my friends and I just booked a camel trek that sounded reasonable until we actually sat down and did the math—after it was already too late of course. You always have to remember to remind yourself what a dollar is worth in Morocco, and though dirhams might make the price sound like less, it’s probably more than you think.
...
I’ve had more than one Moroccan tell me that a good base price to start at is a quarter of the marked price. I think this is actually a little high, because I’ve found, when I’ve asked my Moroccan friends about specific items, they have quoted prices considerably less than that. The bottom line is that you are going to be asked to pay an astronomical price. It is never worth it to pay what they’re first asking, but you also have to accept that you will, in all likelihood, be ripped off. It’s just a matter of to what degree you allow that to happen.
Actual negotiation is where I most often see people fail. Westerners are so uncomfortable with the idea of bargaining that we just can’t bring ourselves to do it properly. Remember, when they give you a high price, you give them one that is ridiculously low. Most people can handle it up to that point. But negotiation is give and take. ... You have to work at it until you come to a happy compromise. This can take HOURS.
Sometimes it’s better not to be the first customer to negotiate. If you have a friend with you, let them go first if they’re buying the same thing as you. A shopkeeper can’t very well charge you more than your friend when you just watched them pay a lower asking price.
My friend had more interesting points to make, but this is a long enough post for now. Want to know more? Join the conversation. Or e-mail me at .
