Haggling on the High Street

I do it on pretty much every purchase £300+.

It normally involves blagging free things to go with said purchase rather than money off though....
 
Not really done much haggling in the UK, but in other countries I've done it loads. Done it a few times when drunk and ended up buying things I didn't really want, just because they came down to my starting price :p

My personal best was a giant fan with a picture on it, about 1.5 meters across. Starting price was 130RMB and got the lady down to 10 RMB for it. Paintings were also good for haggling.

P1020733.jpg


I got this for 50RMB (~£5) down from a starting price of 380.... Then went to a pottery factory in Beijing and saw the same thing with a marked price of 2880 :eek:
 
My dad will wear no socks, just to use the line "come on mate, I'm so skint I can't afford socks!"

It works too :confused::o
 
I never understood how you haggled in places like McDs or Asdas. Surely you can only haggle with someone who has some authority? So are you haggling then asking them to get their manager over to authorise?
 
Living off TCR for the last 4 years has improved my haggling skills no end. All the cameras, laptops, lcds, components etc. I have bought over the years have been haggled down! I love it, just dot from shop to shop until you have found the cut off level. I've also haggled in Tescos late at night for food items that are about to go off the next day, haggled in Subway, McDonalds, Nandos, Fred Perry, Apple Store. If I can try it, I will:D

edit: Don't get me started on hotels:p
 
At the moment you can haggle for any decent purchase if you speak to a salesman or manager. Think supermarket and fast food chains are about the only ones I wouldn't bother at.

You can even haggle comfortably for small goods if you choose the right place to purchase. The likes of butchers and grocers will often do a good deal if asked for one, particularly if you are a regular.
 
Le_Petit_Lapin said:
Can't say I'm a fan of haggling, is there some sort of knack to it or something?
Click to expand...

Well from my experiences, just be fairly straight.

My tactic was that I was looking to buy today for convinience, but I'm happy to wait to buy on the internet for a lot cheaper.

"I know that you will not be able to match the internet price, but I am looking for something reasonable".

After reductions, I quoted that I could get it off the internet for cheaper. If they didn't budge, I thanked them and simply walked. At this point, I was offered a further £5 off once, but I'm glad I held off :)
 
I got a pair of shoes on the TCR down from £70 to £40. The saleman pleaded with me for £45 but as I walked away I heard him say, "OK OK, £40". No way they were worth 70.
 
If I'm buying more than one item I'll always ask for 10% off, if that doesn't work they will usually throw something little in for free.
 
I bought a pair of KRK VXT8's which at the time were priced at about 900+ for just under 700, and got him to throw in all cables too.
 
Last year a i bought a PS3 and a Toshiba 37" LCD TV from a popular retail park electronics store, when i tried to haggle with the assistant i got a blunt "can't do anything" and normally i would have thought bugger it at that point, but for some reason i persisted... "c'mon, i want something off, do something for me, else you might lose the sale"... well that was it want it, off he went to speak to the manager, i ended up with £50 off the TV, 2 £30 Phillips HDMI cables, 2 bluray movies and glass and metal stand for free, saving me about £170... i was well pleased.
 
Jotun said:
Not really done much haggling in the UK, but in other countries I've done it loads. Done it a few times when drunk and ended up buying things I didn't really want, just because they came down to my starting price :p

My personal best was a giant fan with a picture on it, about 1.5 meters across. Starting price was 130RMB and got the lady down to 10 RMB for it. Paintings were also good for haggling.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g137/robeccleston/P1020733.jpg

I got this for 50RMB (~£5) down from a starting price of 380.... Then went to a pottery factory in Beijing and saw the same thing with a marked price of 2880 :eek:
Click to expand...

There's haggling and then there's depriving women in poverty of hard earned cash :p
 
It's not hard earned cash if the profit margin is on the order of 1200%!!!!

Mass produced bits of fabric, paper, plastic, stone, etc... cost very little to obtain if you are a trader in a poor country where you can buy straight from the factory or the night shift boy who is stealing it for you.
 
Boyfriend does this all the time in retail shops, it usually goes along the lines of:

'Excuse me, how much is this?'

'Oh it's this much sir'

'Okay...and how much is it if I smile at you nicely?'

There's times when he gets me to look online with my phone to see how much something is, then makes me show the shop assistants if it's cheaper. Generally, he does get the price down, but good god it can be embarrassing sometimes :o
 
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