You can negotiate anything, except something free or with your Mother-In-Law
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I was just thinking today how everything is negotiable especially in Israel. As continuing the theme of being a fearless entrepreneur a lot of people don’t ask for discounts or negotiate price because of fear.
But what is the fear in asking for a discount or negotiating a price? The fear of rejection if the person says no? The fear of seeing someone look at you with an expression that will hurt your feeling? The fear of looking cheap perhaps?
The worst that can happen is that they can say no. At that point you have a choice to take the product at the price offered or you can walk away. A good tactic would be to say “I am willing to give you 400NIS cash right now, if you are insisting on staying at the price you are offering I will need to think about it.” When you do this you are not cutting off the deal and you can always come back and purchase the item for what the original price was while still saving face and there is a good chance that the seller will take the cash now.
It’s really all about leverage. If you have cash in your hand you have the leverage. If you have other places that you know will take a lower offer then you have leverage. The only sticky situation is if you are bluffing.
For example: You want to buy a widget that is listed for 500 NIS for 400NIS. If you go to the seller and tell him that you can get it from someone else for 450 NIS but you really can’t, then a) you have no leverage because he could tell you to walk and if you do you will eventually come back to this guy with your tail between your head and pay full price and b) it is considered lying and I am a big believer in always telling the truth.
If you are going to try and reduce your mortgage, make sure you had a serious discussion with another bank before you walk into your bank asking to refinance.
When I was thinking about writing this article I thought it was funny that you can’t negotiate something that is for FREE and it is useless trying to negotitate with your Mother-In-Law but seriously you can negotiate for most products and services and especially in a down economy it is much easier to get better deals.
Another place you may not be successful at negotiating is at the super markets. You can try negotiating with the check-out lady, but I’m pretty sure she will smile at you like your crazy and give you a nervous laugh. I know because I tried 
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2 Comments
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Then there’s the flip side: If you own a business, don’t negotiate against yourself!
I bought a pair of Rockport shoes yesterday, listed at NIS 700. As someone who hates shopping for clothing, in less than ten minutes I was ready to pay and get out of there. It didn’t even cross my mind to negotiate.
“They’re 700, right?” I asked the owner, just checking.
“No, that’s just the list price. We’ll charge you 590.”
Suddenly hit by a flash of the obvious, I paused as if the 590 may be too steep to see if he would go any lower.
If your own a business, don’t rush to offer a discount if you aren’t asked.
Dov Gordon
June 2nd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
I agree with you Dov, from a business owners perspective there is no need to offer a discount unless asked or unless you want to really stand out. Imagine telling a customer that “I could charge you 700 NIS for these shoes, but I want to show you my appreciation for shopping by us and I am going to take off 15% just because I can.” How many people do you think you would tell and where would you go the next time to buy a new pair of shoes.
The thing as a business owner that you do have to be careful of is if you are having a special, make sure you are offering the same special to everyone. You don’t want to be caught having a special and then charging someone the retail price.