How good of a negotiator/haggler are you with prices?

[marvelvscapcom2]

Hello everyone


My brother and I went to the local flea market a few days ago and It was an amazing fun day out on the town digging through the good old grey cartridge bins from the old folks again as we all know well.     And one thing I noticed while we were out conversing with the flea market folks is that the art of being able to negotiate is so essnetial with both selling and buying video games.   My brother is a master at the art of the deal and talking turkey with the pros  and so are many other buyers that frequent the flea market scenes make it look so easy but I think they know i'm new at it and always see me coming if I dare to dive into the shark waters of negotiating .


It's almost a science when he starts to break down their goods and I don't think I have ever seen him be denied a lower price offer.  Which is good because in this age of cutthroat resellers anyway, the lower you can get them the closer it can get to the actual price . 


By being around him though I have implimented some of his tactics to decent and mixed results.  Along with some of my own methods. But it's kinda a touch and go thing where it takes years of mastering as a craft.  I have lowered most people but not by much.  Not like how he does it. 


His tactics change order a lot but they always comprise of this list.


1. Find a flaw with the item even if minute or barely noticable, inform them that it hurts it's value. (make them undervalue their own goods)
2. Say another vender has it for cheaper down yonder somewhere else in the flea market   (Play on their competitive nature to outsell the competition)
3.  Have a child who wants it.   (My brother has an advantage over me in the art of the negotiating,  he has an adorable 8 year old kid who gives the cute begging kid face and sometimes even cries as a last line of defense)  I don't think anyone unless they got the thousand yard stare and have seen some stuff can ever say no lol.

4. Bundle two games you want together and use the classic groupon (The buyer usually gives a pitty decrease because you are spending more)


And many more tactics as well


All and all how well are you in the negotiation field?   For me I used to always be the like the price buy it, don't like it than don't kinda guy that would rarely ask for a lower price. I'm not very good at being stern or walking away or getting turned down on an offer so I usually just try to avoid it But I know now that I wasted a lot of good oppurtunities to go even lower and get good deals .  I guess I felt bad for the vendors and didn't want to talk them down but now I realized they get those lots of games for dirt cheap off the unexpecting so they should go lower than what they do anyhow 


Have you ever gotten an amazing deal by talking someone down and being a good negotiator?   

Where would you rate yourself on the negotiator scale?


1. You'd pay 40 bucks for a Mario Duck Hunt for NES if they offered you 
2. You aren't very good at negotiating with vendors or rarely try
3. You make offers but almost always get turned down
4. You get a 5 dollar decrease here and there but you usually just look for cheap stuff that's already low. 
5. You get good results consistently but never an amazing deal.
6. You have gotten many of deal by the power of your negotiating
7.  Vendors see you and put out their closed signs lol
8.  You could sell ice to eskimo
9.  You could convince mexico to fund the wall.
10. You are Rick from Pawn Stars  lol



 

[pacgamer89]

The best negotiating you can do is by being a loyal customer to a store and becoming friends with the owner and employees and you'll eventually get discounts without asking for them.

[aliensstudios]

I'd say somewhere between a 5 and 6 for myself. This year especially I've found a ton of good stuff at Thrift Stores but that's luck more than anything else. I use to haggle at Yard Sales and such but it's more trouble than it's worth to me, if the price is fair, I won't try to haggle it any lower. Personally, I don't really get a thrill out of finding "grails" or "making off like a bandit" or generally ripping people off since it's more the enjoyment of owning the game, playing it and documenting it. If I see a good deal, I'll take it. If I see a duplicate copy of a game at a good price, I'll leave it. I'm at the point where I have more games than I could play in a lifetime so I don't feel the need to try and get any truly amazing deals.

[bikingjahuty]

The most powerful negotiating tactic I use is caring less than the seller and calling their bluff when they think I'm going to cave and pay what they're asking. Obviously this doesn't always work and there have been times when I wanted what was being sold so much that I was the one bluffing, but mostly I've got a lot of great deals by being willing to walk away.

As someone else said, being a regular, loyal customer always goes a long way too. Some of my favorite game stores have really, REALLY hooked me up over the years because I go their regularly and spent a lot of money with them. Also, being nice, not being pushy or a creep, and respecting the employees goes a long way towards getting better deals on stuff. I've been given games, expensive games for free just by being a regular. I got Grind Stormer and Sparkster on the Genesis for free just because me and the managers got along so well. And that isn't including the hundreds of cheap games deals they hooked me up with time and again.

[emporerdragon]

Years of working in retail have made me generally hate the haggling process. I'm willing to do discounts on items when I have a reason, but when the reason is just along the lines of "I don't want to pay that much", I will refuse to budge. It never helps that the "offers" hagglers give are so pitiful that I would literally make more money for the store by smashing the thing with a hammer and sending it back as defective.

So, no, I don't haggle. If it's a price I like, I'll buy it; If it isn't, I don't.

[98dgreen]

Would rate myself an 8.  Usually use the fact that the seller needs to sell it more than I have to buy it and walk away if they won't sell it for what I want.  Also lowballing people who look like they have no knowledge of the item works also.  Bundleing is by far my favorite.

[turf]

I'm not even being cocky when I say, I'm good at it.  I'm solid at buying and selling.  MrNikon and Kashell have both seen me operate like this.

If it's a retail store, ask for a discount.  If it's the owner/manager, they will wiggle a little on price.  If it's just some dude working there, pay the sticker or don't. 

If it's a yardsale or flea market, it's a subtle art of shooting low but not being insulting.  You have to start negations somewhere. 

Be willing to walk away.  Don't want something so bad that you won't put it down.  When I'm selling something, I can tell when someone has already bought something in their mind.  Once you take possession of it in your mind, you're going to buy it.  That's just a fact.

Above all else, be friendly.  Don't be rude.  Don't be a dick.  Just be friendly and talk to the seller.  A smile and a kind word will get you a long way in making a deal. 

[matimo]

5. You get good results consistently but never an amazing deal.

[oldgamerz]

Sometimes if you look interested enough, in something. if that seller has been not selling so hot or they are anxious in getting rid of it that day they will automatically give you a cheaper price. then you should take that offer especially if it is a popular or rare complete in box game that is more expensive everywhere else. But only if that is the kind of game you want to buy of course