More publications creating SC's (long)

[LexiaFira]

Wanted to post this on CS.com but foresaw the possibility of heated debate so to fratching i post.

This is something I saw in my Parents magazine subscription. (Dunno if magazine titles are italicized or quotated)
Have already heard of similar stuff being on tv's and tv shows, and now a parents magazine is pushing it, as well as books coming out about it. BUT I'm on the fence on this one so to speak.
Here is the word for word short article section quoted. Rants and points of view are after the quote

Get a Better Deal
Bargaining isn't just for flea markets. You can often haggle in retail stores, says Rick Doble, coauthor of Cheaper: Insiders' Tips for Saving on Everything.
TIME YOUR TRIP
Go on a weekday morning when there are fewer shoppers. If the clerk won't bargain, speak with a manager.
TREAD SOFTLY
Use a friendly tone when making your request:"Would you take a little less for this baby monitor?"
BRING BILLS
Many retailers offer a cash discount to avoid paying a credit-card transaction fee.
KEEP IT QUIET
Try not to attract the attention of the other customers, or the salesperson may stop negotiating.
LOOK COR CLOSEOUTS
Stores love to unload discontinued products. See if they'll work with you to get those items off the sales floor.
BE READY TO WALK
If a merchant is convinced you'll buy it elsewhere, he's more likely to make a deal.

The opening part, great now there is a BOOK on it, did people that wrote these books EVER work in retail? Good grief.

The first part I can understand shopping at slow times but if EVERYONE does that then there won't BE slow times, there will often always be busy or peak times. Bleh. AND some stores the prices are set by corporate and CANNOT be changed without a long strenuous process so going up the ladder in store won't do you much good. BUT I do understand the wanting of a bargain, I suppose maybe the mom and pop stores might do this but I could be wrong.

I do agree with using a friendly tone in asking for discounts...however that can soon turn ugly since again the prices can be set in stone and nothing can be done, people can quickly turn into SC's

The cash on hand is great for emergencies and some local stores from my experience do offer discount for paying with cash, but again that can vary in different towns.

No comment on the not attracting attention beyond that yes bringing in a crowd will bring more drama. At worst my thoughts would be that the whole drama crowd would be asked to leave or escorted out by the popo or banned on the spot heh with complimentary popo escorts.

I've seen stores like Tuesday morning which is exactly that discounted stuff that other stores didn't want so...i have no comment on that as I have not experienced it.

Be ready to walk, oooh so many comments there....fine goodbye, walk. This goes back to the whole prices are set in stone. Maybe some business owners are willing to take cuts to give discounts but with the way things are in my small town some places can only discount so much. Yes i chose to keep most of the economy the way it is out cause...well no offense I've heard it enough times that the point has been made and have already taken it into consideration.

Here is where I am on the fence, I do understand wanting a discount but some stores if not most or all are already in a bind due to the way things are at the moment. If I want a discount that badly then I'm going to get what i pay for or go to good will for that matter. Nothing wrong with that but I'm also one of the people that having been on both sides as a customer and a person in retail i just cannot bring myself to ask for discounts but ask ABOUT what their discount policies are or if they offer any for this month week or whatever instead of getting into an argument. Or go find out for myself.

So as an attempt at courtesy I try to avoid any crap to the employees as they take so much flack a day. But thats when I get out of the house if at all lately LOL.

[AdminAssistant]

This is something I saw in my Parents magazine subscription. (Dunno if magazine titles are italicized or quotated)

Titles of magazines are italicized, and titles of articles within magazines are put in quotes.

[LexiaFira]

thank you. hope this is in the proper forum too

[MadMike]

You can often haggle in retail stores

In what retail store would that be? None that I've ever heard of, at least not in this country. Someone actually tried that in the store where I worked my last retail job, and all that got him was laughed at by the manager.

If the clerk won't bargain, speak with a manager.

And here we have another idiot who seems to think the lowly sales clerks have any sort of control over prices or store policies.

BE READY TO WALK

I got quite a few people who did just that when I "wouldn't" give them a better deal or change store policy for them. I guess they expected me to chase after them, start groveling, and cave in and give them what they want. I was just glad to have them out of my hair.

[Hyena Dandy]

In what retail store would that be? None that I've ever heard of, at least not in this country. Someone actually tried that in the store where I worked my last retail job, and all that got him was laughed at by the manager.



And here we have another idiot who seems to think the lowly sales clerks have any sort of control over prices or store policies.



I got quite a few people who did just that when I "wouldn't" give them a better deal or change store policy for them. I guess they expected me to chase after them, start groveling, and cave in and give them what they want. I was just glad to have them out of my hair.

My dad haggles at big retail chains when he thinks something isn't fair. Which really disgusts me, and even more upsetting is sometimes it actually WORKS. >

I love my father, but that is one of his few faults.

[AdminAssistant]

Here's a link to a similar article:

http://www.familycircle.com/family-f...argain/?page=1

[IDrinkaRum]

I read the family circle article. I dcon't know if it's beause I'm not logged in, or whatever, but there are no comments in the comment section.

More people in retail need to keep writing comments on how this just doesn't work.

Maybe someone in retail should write a book on how this stuff doesn't work?

Just throwing out ideas.

These book & article writers just need to be sent to work in retail and know their ideas are stupid.

[guywithashovel]

I read an article similar to this several years ago in Reader's Digest. It encouraged people to haggle over things in retail stores. It seems odd that I remember this, since this was back sometime in the early 2000s, but here are a few of the tactics it encouraged.

1. Look for flaws, however minor, in an item and try to get a discount for that. For example, if you're buying a desk or a table, try to find any little scratch or blemish on it and work from there.

2. Ask the clerk to "throw in" extra items. Like if you're buying perfume, ask the clerk to throw in a few bottles of nail polish at no extra charge.

3. Use humor to present yourself. The author of the article illustrated this by saying that he once went to a store to buy a futon and asked the clerk if they were giving discounts to veterans . . . of the Spanish-American War. He says the clerk laughed so hard at that joke that he gave him a big discount. Personally, I don't think that joke is riotously funny. If someone said it to me, I might grin and nod, but it wouldn't make me bust a gut unless I was drunk or high on drugs. When I worked retail, this probably wouldn't have made me want to do someone a favor. After a while, I'd had so many doofuses joke with me simply to impress their dates, significant others, and friends that I almost wanted to choke anyone who tried to bounce a joke off of me. I know that's a bad way to be, but oh well.

Now, I will this article as well as the one in the OP some credit in that it encourages people to be polite and civil, though it does encourage people to do that pathetic "I'm shopping elsewhere" threat.

Oh, another thing. The article I described was written sometime during the early 2000s recession, and it said that given the slow economy, many businesses were willing to do special favors like this for customers just to get the business. Not sure how true that is, though, because I've never worked somewhere where we had a lot of authority to change prices for customers.

[LexiaFira]

In response to MadMike.... in my town...if you are a regular...and its a locally owned IE mom and pop store i suppose the term is or at least very nice they MIGHT toss a discount your way or MIGHT haggle with you for a tiny bit. I think its more based on who you know etc etc but they also don't do it in front of everyone. So again this only happened once when I went out with FIL and he'd been going to that store for ages. Sadly the store is now defunct

[jackfaire]

The only store I know of where this would work is a video game store with previously owned games being the thing your haggling about since your usually talking to someone who either has access to or is the person that set the price.

For anything new no screw that you aren't getting a special rate and haggling just makes you look like a moron. You want to haggle go down to the street fair and haggle with them.

A store is a business that has to make a certain amount of money to not only ensure profit but to also cover all the costs of doing business, including buying the product, paying the employees, utilities, building rental or property taxes, etc.

Most of those times that someone haggles and "it works" either the manager has to cover the difference out of his own pocket or has to pull the money from somewhere else in the store. This screws him over but keeps the customer from complaining to Corporate whom of course expect the manager to live in his car and give his house to the customer if that will make them happy.

[Lace Neil Singer]

At the places I used to work, anyone who tried to haggle would get laughed out the store. The prices were set in stone as a general rule. Sometimes stuff would be reduced, for example, if it was damaged or old stock, but it was down to the boss's discretion as to whether he'd do it for someone on the spot. At the garden centre, the boss frankly refused to let someone have an on the spot discount, on the basis that it encouraged people to damage the stock themselves in the hopes of getting money off, and I'm sure that other places have a similar policy.

[jackfaire]

, on the basis that it encouraged people to damage the stock themselves in the hopes of getting money off, and I'm sure that other places have a similar policy.

"Microsoft is down two points"


lol sorry had me thinking of Big Daddy

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

I don't mind customers asking for a discount. The problem comes when they don't take "No" for an answer and make a big deal out of the whole thing.

One important piece of information these articles seem to ALWAYS leave out is that you should have an understanding of where and what you can and can't negotiate. That makes it easier for everyone.

[protege]

There's only one place I haggle. That would be the hobby shop across town. Sure, most of their prices are set in stone. But, sometimes I'm able to get long-out-of-production kits cheaply. Cheaply, since most of them are Japanese models that nobody wants--old Nissan Skylines, Bluebirds, and other "undesirable" vehicles. The owner knows that I'll usually take them, and will let me have them for only $5 apiece, instead of what he usually charges.