Comments on: Ethical Frugality Week: Haggling

By: kevina

kevina — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 10:08:29 +0000

thanks for posting this article. I was trying to find another person’s point of view on haggling. I do haggle myself but in the market, flea stores, where its is generaly acceptable. Haggling for me is politely asking if there is a price lower than what is it being sold for, then if the selelr says no, then i stop and be thankful they entertained my question and not feel like i was being cheated just because the price is fixed.

one of the main problem i am experiencing with my store selling online and in my little show room, is when customers tend to haggle or ask for discounts or “last price” of items, not thinking how unethical it is on such occasions when they are in a lingerie store and not a flea market.

I guess there are many people who are not sensible enough, to know when it is and isnt the right time to haggle. Unfortunately some of my customers haggle the prices of my lingerie..to think im selling lingerie ! tried to make an effort and pay for an online store, made my tiny show room really pretty and classy, spent a lot of bucks on automated inventory and barcoded tags just so theyll know the prices are fixed but still!

asking politely is acceptable to me since it is part of our culture in Asia, but those people who act like theyre being cheated on with the price when you say its fixed, and that its their “birth right” to get your items at a lesser price is what annoys me the most. Discounts , i give them to people who deserve it, those who doesnt ask for discounts are the people who i enjoy and wholeheartedly give discounts to,

By: Danielle

Danielle — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:33:52 +0000

I prefer the word “negotiating”, though I will say that I find it completely acceptable, even in stores where it isn’t the norm to do so.

One case that I’ve recently done this myself was at Walmart. They had a onesie that said “Baby’s 1st Thanksgiving”. It was clearly the only one in the store and had probably been missed when they cleared out whatever didn’t sell. The gal offered me 50% off (this was in January). We were looking for 75% off or better (the current rate at the time for post-Christmas items) and politely said “thanks, but no”.

Flea markets, thrift stores, online purchases… I think you are doing the seller a disservice if you would be willing to a pay a certain price and you don’t even discuss it. For one, they might just be interested in making the deal, and for another, polite feedback on what your customers think the price should be can be very useful.

By: almost there

almost there — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:23:46 +0000

Perhaps if people had haggled better during the housing boom, prices of houses would not have risen to the heights that they did and the loss wouldn’t have been so much now. Yes, every negotiation is haggling, esp. house buying. Anyone seeing the offensive behavior of the man bullying the kid should have stepped in and set him straight. People think, well, it is none of my business. But if one hears the bully, it becomes everyone’s business. That is what makes for a more civil society when strangers are not afraid to put people in their place.

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:33:42 +0000

First, I agree the guy was a jerk. Even if the parents were encouraging the kid to help the family by selling his own collection, he was still a kid, and the guy sounds like a bully.

My husband is a superb haggler; he grew up with it, and honed his technique in Mexico and southeast Asia. And when we owned a wrecking yard, he was always happy to haggle with customers who wanted to do so. OTOH, when customers came in who were hard-up (and he wasn’t easily fooled by fakers), he would often set his starting price lower than normal… sometimes way lower. We were never part of the official Senior Citizens Discount program that many businesses in town had; many of the local retirees had far more money than we did. But he could spot the ones living on only their Social Security, and would cut prices like mad for them.

He used to come in and apologize to me for how little he sometimes charged in these cases. I always hugged him and told him I was proud of his decision. This is a large part of why we’re still married after 35 years.

By: jreed

jreed — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:52:48 +0000

Did it occur to anyone that these comic books might not be worth even a buck or two? Maybe the kid was puttting one over on the guy? It is a pretty rare comic book to be worth 15.00. Maybe the guy was actually a good samaratan being rebuffed. Why exactly are the parents putting the kid out there to begin with?

By: Nancy

Nancy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:39:34 +0000

I don’t haggle at these kinds of events. Period. Whether these people are there out of extreme need or not, I’m not going to decide.

That “man” was wrong and I hope somebody recognizes him in this story!

Oh, and by the way, can we talk about haggling the price for services/goods with people who run their own businesses, like I do? We’re not doing this for fun, either.

Last week a woman asked me if I could cut her a break on watching her home and cat because her cruise was costing her so much money.

By: AnnJo

AnnJo — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:32:07 +0000

I agree with Helen (#35) and DeRuiter (#67). This man was no gentleman. An appropriate label would be “boor.”

By: pam munro

pam munro — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:13:41 +0000

I think haggling over prices is the norm with yard sales, and even some flea markets and swap meets – It’s a known fact that even marked prices there go down towards the end of the day, when the seller just wants to get RID of everything. I always think that’s the best time to buy. My husband sometimes gathers several items up and offers a lump sum for them – which works when they look overloaded with stuff. Not all yard sale prices are realistic, since the sellers are amateurs – there it’s perfectly OK to offer what you think the item is worth. Of course, in other cultures, really cut throat haggling is not out of the ordinary – even the bullish manner. If you are offered a price you don’t think is acceptable, you don’t have to sell. This goes for kids, too – who often tend their own old toys was a question, an adult should have been called in.

By: kathryn

kathryn — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:10:33 +0000

I have to agree with Gabriel, what that guy did was not haggling, it was bullying. It is very much like a larger, stronger person punching out a smaller person because (he/she) has the advantage of size and strength. The adult “haggler” had the advantage in size, age, and tactics. It was unfair to the young boy. What bitter lesson that boy had to learn!

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:50:59 +0000

@ Jim 55 and Kristine 66

Actually when I was a waitress I made $1.83 an hour. Minimum wage for wait staff in Texas was $2.15 and they took $.32 an hour out of our pay to cover our lunches (which were mandatory to eat their food). On top of that the IRS charges you 10% minimum of your total sales unless you voluntarily reported more (which I always did). So if you come in, eat $100 worth of food and don’t leave a tip then I’m paying the IRS $10 and getting paid less than $2 for the hour it took to take care of you. This was in 2005 btw. No matter how bad the service is I will not tip less than 10% because whether or not I pay someone extra is one thing but it’s not my place to literally take money out of their pockets. If you can’t afford to tip you can’t afford to eat out. I still live by that and I left waitressing years ago.

By: Lenore

Lenore — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:28:24 +0000

Yeah, this Ethical Frugality stuff is fun to read and could actually end up making the world a slightly better place. It’s certainly food for thought about what constitutes fair behavior and how far is too far to go for a deal.
o
If I’d been around for this transaction, I would have had to make some smart comment to the kid within earshot of the adult: “You know what the difference is between you and that man? Someday you may outgrow comic books because you already know how to be a hero, even when someone else is acting like a villain.”

By: sbt

sbt — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:12:52 +0000

It’s not the haggling, it’s the bullying that’s inappropriate.

By: Sea Jay

Sea Jay — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:07:32 +0000

While this has been talked to death, my feeling is that in order to haggle fairly, the playing field should be some what even–an adult verbally abusing a child is not an even playing field! I guess the final answer comes down to: What price do you put on your honor? Obviously, the adult intimidating a child to save $15–sold his honor for $15. Frankly, I value my honor at a much higher rate!! I wouldn’t stiff another person for such a small amount–especially for a comic book that he probably resold later at a huge profit. He was an “honor-less” man! That was not free commerce, that was bullying and intimidation! Shame on him!

By: Tall Bill

Tall Bill — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:36:34 +0000

Right on # 69 & Trent. More EF Please!!

By: Bill OBrien

Bill OBrien — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:39:45 +0000

“Ethical Frugality” should be a core topic for TSD. It resonates much more clearly than social networking (Never Eat Alone). I have nothing to add re the haggling example, but Trent, keep expanding on the EF theme. Right on!!

By: littlepitcher

littlepitcher — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:55:12 +0000

I’ve sold at flea markets, and I seldom haggle. I’ve been quite frank about telling the guys that they are trying to haggle a woman down to half the wages they would pay a man. You’ve never really experienced arrogance until you’ve sold at such a place. Admittedly, the overhead is low, but many salespeople are unemployed, have a disabled spouse, or are supplementing minimum-wage or part-time jobs with flea marketing on weekends.

Rude people will be rude, no matter what the venue. A child learned a valuable lesson about manners, greed, and human nature that day.

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:58:28 +0000

With haggling, the seller never takes less than his bottom line. If you don’t ever haggle, you’re over paying for a lot of things. I haggle over everything, and it’s fun for both the seller and myself. Private people selling at a garage sale or flea market DON’T WANT WHAT THEY’RE TRYING TO SELL, THEY WANT IT TO GO AWAY, the price is usually secondary to the offer to remove the object in question. Most sellers at flea markets are professionals with another income from a “day” job. The touching thought that only the destitute sell at flea markets is hilarious! The “poor” in America get generous welfare, section 8, utilities vouchers, food stamps, free vocational training, free food from the local food pantry, free health care from the local emergency room, they are paid a welfare supplement each time they add another child to the flock. Being poor in America reuqires a good bit of time and effort going from agency to agency to collect the free stuff. The poor don’t bother to get up at 5 AM on Saturday to set up at the flea market. Most people who sell at flea markets and garage sales are business people with a small business (selling used goods or selling for a wholesaler.) Flea marketers (me among them) are hard working enterpreneurs making extra income. The idea is to buy low, sell high, and do volume. In order to do volume you have to haggle. Flea marketers sell things to others who often plan to resell the stuff. Antiques move up the food chain that way, from the house sale, to the flea market, to the low level antiques “picker” to the mid lever dealer, to the Pier Show in Manhattan, each sale resulting in a higher price and a haggle, until the thing ends up in New York City with a blockbuster price to a person who may or may not haggle. As to Helen, THANK YOU! “Gentleman” is not a fancy term for a male human. A “gentleman” has a specific code of morals, manner, behavior, and a gentleman is never cruel or rude to animals, children or women. A “lady” is a specific type of human female, all ladies are women but not all women are ladies. Thank you Helen for airing one of my pet peeves language wise.

By: Todd

Todd — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:43:23 +0000

This reminded me of a lemonade stand I had as a kid. I was selling plastic cups of lemonade for a quarter. A man pulled up and said, “I’ll give you three dollars for the whole pitcher.” Of course I said YES. He drove off with one of my mom’s glass pitchers. She was rather upset. We laugh about it now, but I still think “What a jerk” to make such an offer to a kid. Luckily it wasn’t an heirloom or anything.

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:17:52 +0000

I agree w/ #64. What that man was doing wasn’t haggling. He was bullying the boy, likely to get the book at a significantly reduced price so he can turn around and sell it on eBay for a significantly higher price. The boy’s parent should’ve stepped in to deal with the rude customer. I have no respect for men who feel the need to bully children. What’s the point?

By: gexx

gexx — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:42:57 +0000

That’s not haggling. That’s bullying. I feel bad for the kid.

I will pay what I think an item is worth, and I’ll let the owner of a store or stand know if I don’t think their price is fair and ask for it to be reduced. But that’s adults. With kids, if I don’t like their price, I don’t go after it. I don’t want to be “that jerk.”

At the same time, if a kid (and sometimes adults) are undervaluing an object I let them know. As I’m working at a comic/game store I’m getting attuned to the price of collectables and just feel horrible taking advantage of someone.