"Is that the best you can do?" - One man's approach to haggling

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

Apparently the phrase quoted in the post title is the key to haggling for people who don't really like to haggle.

The guy promoting this also advises people to try it pretty much anywhere.

Here's the article.

[Duelist925]

Fucking hell, I want to slap the idiot who wrote this. This kind of shit pissed me off to no end in my tech support days, people trying to haggle their bill down with me, or haggle the price of a service call.

Thats not even getting into how much it must piss off people who actually CAN haggle, trying to force them to undermine themselves. >.<

I do like the end of this comment though:

I’ve made my offer… it’s on the price tag or CL post. You want to counteroffer, then do so, and I’m sure we can find a number we both can live with. But I’m not going to bargain against myself FOR you.

[Grendus]

Haggling is fine in its place. If the salesperson has the power to alter the price that's fine (though don't go overboard), but in places where the employee has no power to alter the price or will actually get in trouble to alter the price (such as having to call a manager over, which is sometimes recorded in their logs) it's kind of a dick move.

[Seifer]

When a price is set, having the customer try to haggle is a pain in the ass. Apparently Disney has a problem with tourists from other countries trying to haggle down their prices. All I can say to that is, "Good f'ing luck."

[Greenday]

Only time I've had to deal with that was when I was a teenager working in a pharmacy (Which sold tons of other random stuff). Every time there was a post-holiday sale, people would ask me to lower prices more than what they already were (Cause half off isn't enough already?). Right, because my boss is just going to allow a 16 year old to change prices.

[Andara Bledin]

I have a coworker who raises her prices when people ask things like that.

When they complain about higher prices not being "better," she just tells them, "Well it's better for me." Most of them get the hint.

[Mr Hero]

I hear this phrase all the time as a hotel clerk. The article was wrtten April 26 of this year, but this tactic is much older. Every single time I'm asked this, I immediately label the person as an EW. I'm more rigid in my haggling than I otherwise would be.

[Ginger Tea]

Yes we'll rent you this deluxe room for the price of a standard, just wait 3 hours whilst we strip it out of all deluxe features and replace them with standard.