People are always looking for ways that they can save money or spend less. One method that we hardly ever see mentioned is to haggle. Haggling can save you hundreds of pounds off your household bills, but we tend not to be that good at it in the UK if we even give it a go.
The crux of haggling is to let your existing vendor or supplier know that you will go elsewhere if you do not get a better deal. The vast majority of sellers will want to keep you as a customer – it costs a lot of time and effort to find a replacement buyer. So, they are likely to agree and give you a better price.
To help make you a better haggler, and potentially save you hundreds of pounds each year, here are another nine tips for how to have more success at haggling.
1. Time Your Haggling
There is no point in going into haggling with a supplier when you are halfway through a fixed-term contract, and you have penalty charges for early termination. This timing does not put you at an advantage. However, as your renewal date approaches, your haggling position strengthens. Set yourself email reminders for all of your contracts (utilities, phone, broadband, etc.) to start haggling from a position of strength.
2. Haggle With The Right Person
If you want to get a better deal on your utilities, insurance, broadband, or other contracts, make sure that you are haggling with the right person. If you are initially speaking with the customer service department, there is little point in negotiating with them. If they don’t do it automatically, ask to be transferred to the sales or retention team. These people are the ones who have the targets, so they are the ones you want to be haggling with.
3. Stay Polite
Going into a haggling session with an aggressive attitude is only likely to get the salesperson to dig their heels in. No law states the seller has to lower their price for you, so if you alienate them, you might find that they refuse to budge on the price. The best policy is to stay polite, build rapport, and persuade the seller that you are worth keeping at a lower price.
4. Be Clear That You Are Serious
If a salesperson believes that you are a serious buyer and ready to purchase straight away, they are more likely to lower the price. If you can time your purchase around their end of the month, quarter, or yearly sales targets, you will be more likely to get an incredible deal. Show interest in the product and ask plenty of questions.
5. Remain Flexible
You might be offered incentives other than a cash discount to secure your loyalty. If your attempts at haggling for cash turn out to be in vain, ask for something else instead. Some free accessories, perhaps, or extra time on a subscription can be as good as cash. These things will prove to be cheaper for the seller to provide, but you will still get more than your money’s worth. Win-win all round.
6. Show, Don’t Tell
Don’t merely start haggling with stories and anecdotes of how much cheaper the same product is a few shops down the road. Bring some hard evidence of more competitive suppliers of the same or comparable products. This evidence will put you in a much better position, and the seller will not be able to refute your claims. Also, do your haggling at a quiet time. You will have more chance of holding the salesperson’s attention, and it is much more respectful towards them.
7. Point out the Drawbacks
If there is something about the product that you do not like or that could be made better, point it out. This haggling method is used a lot in car deals, particularly if you are going for a display or demo model.
8. Take Advantage of Silence
Going quiet is a classic sales and haggling tactic. Once you’ve indicated what you are after, simply keep quiet and let it sink in. The silence will feel awkward, and this will encourage the salesperson to fill the silence with some sort of offer.
9. Be Prepared To Walk Away
Both you and the salesperson want to make the sale, and there is just a slight difference from preventing you both achieving one. It is common for the person who is prepared to walk away to end up getting what they want. Make it clear that you are ready to walk away unless you get something.
Conclusion
Haggling can get you hundreds of pounds off all sorts of purchases. If you haven’t haggled in the past, or you feel uncomfortable doing it, hopefully, these nine tips for successful haggling will help you save some money.