High Street Haggling Discussion

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  • MattLFC
    MattLFC Posts: 397 Forumite
    Rebel wrote: »
    they are better off taking a smaller profit and getting the sale than NO profit at all because the customer goes elsewhere.
    This is so true, this is why the likes of Sky, Virgin and o2 etc will, in some circumstances, offer customers their service at stupid prices, because some income/profit is better than none.

    In my business, if someone comes along and offers me a price for something, I look at it two ways:

    - Am I able to make a profit on the service at that price?

    and if not:

    - Is the service already profitable with spare capacity and am I able to serve the customer without paying a penny more/having any adverse effect on other clients, so adding some more income to it, even if its sold at a "loss" means I make more overall profit.

    It does not matter what price the customer offers (so long as its somewhat realistic), if I can answer yes to either of them two questions, then its a happy sale for both parties. Nine times out of 10, if the first question is a no, the second is a yes.

    :)
  • MattLFC
    MattLFC Posts: 397 Forumite
    Oh and at the end of the day, if the seller is not happy with the price, they can negotiate by telling the buyer their lowest possible price. If it's not good enough, then the seller and the buyer agree to disagree and nobody is out of pocket.

    Although, if times are that tough for a seller, and they have a stockpile, they will probably be prepared to take a loss on stock they have already paid for, to ensure they have income.

    Too many business's (and individuals for that matter) will go out of business/bankrupt for one reason, not due to haggling, but because they didnt put enough money aside during the boom times, instead they spent it recklessly, thanks to a mixture of greed and foolishly believing Mr Brown's promises that the boom would never again turn to bust.

    And if thats not the case, then the business simply isnt viable economically im afraid, so no amount of customer haggling is going to send them out of business.
  • vigman
    vigman Posts: 1,377
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    Haggling! This has been my life even before MSE!!

    Last week I found a very expensive Neff Double Oven in a shop for 950GBP. I went home and found the cheapest internet price of 706GBP. Not only did they match it on the spot, but also took away other old appliances I had at home for disposal for free.

    Also last week my 35GBP per month O2 contract was ending. After haggling on the phone I got the same deal 600 minutes + unlimited texts with an additional 200 minutes for 15 GBP! (They first offered 25 then 20, then 18!).Best of all this is a monthly renewable contract :beer:

    Just do it. They can only say "No"

    Vigman
    Any information given in my posts or replies is intended to be of interest and/or help to members of the forum. I cannot guarantee that this is accurate or up to date.
  • Haggling - why as an independant shopkeeper I hate it!

    (I have a small gift shop which sells jewellery, clothing and general gifts)
    • I price my stock fairly and competitively already to compete with the chain stores
    • My regular customers do get a discount because they are just that "REGULARS" - they never need to ask
    • Customers who ask for a discount on low value items just because they are buying two - and then expect to pay with a credit/debit card thereby reducing my profit margin even more.
    • When I politely explain that my profit margins are low already, they continue to haggle. No is no in any language surely?
    If a customer asks me for a discount my reply now is - "Hang on a minute then while I call my Landlord to see if he will reduce my rent this month, and then I'll ring the Council to see if they will reduce my rates"

    or

    "Do you ask Tesco for a reduction if you are buying two loaves of bread or Marks and Spencers if you buy two pairs of socks?"

    The classic is "Can I get a discount for this item as it's been on the shelf" - er, no, thats how we display goods. Do you think Tescos gives a discount for an apple thats been sitting in a display or a packet of biscuits? No, I didn,t think so!

    Having said all this, I enjoy a bit of a haggle myself, but only with large chain stores selling large consumer items where they are making huge profits anyway. I know how difficult it is for small shops - rent, rates and delivery charges only ever go up in our business and we dont reprice every item in the shop to reflect this increase!
  • My mum wanted to buy a new coat so we went to debenhams armed with a £5 voucher (from Express)
    I read about haggling yesterday & wondered if we should give it a go??
    The coat my mum liked was in the Jacques Vert section with a £20 off label, I asked the assistant if she thought these coats may be reduced even further in the next few weeks to which she replied she didnt know.
    We then said we would think about it as it was quite expensive to which she replied she could give us a further 20% off the price!!
    A further £35.80 off making the total saving £55.80!
    :j Not bad for a first attempt

    (couldnt use the £5 voucher with this offer but were given 2 more in store)
    2012 wins: American Anthem tickets, Illamasqua lipstick & mascara, Wireless tickets, Bakin boys cupcakes, Hotel Chocolat, Trip to LA & £500 spending money, cinema tickets, goodwood tickets, cocktail night at waldorf hotel, parmesan, Flip goody bag & case Relentless drink, Coke T-shirt, Gaymers cider, Bruce Lee T-shirt, DVD & poster:j
  • jgriggle
    jgriggle Posts: 165 Forumite
    I used to work in electrical retail, and the margins on that are TINY. It never does any harm to ask for discount, but don't be patronising, or ask for the manager and remember that no means no. (It's worth remembering that you have NO chance of discount on the big brands, as shops often sell these as loss leaders to attract people in to the store) We used to have discretion regarding discount, but if we discounted any more than a third off the profit we used to get no commission, so sometimes would rather see a customer walk away empty handed than waste time processing the sale for nothing. Single purchases have no chance of free stuff/discount but if you're buying many things it's worth asking. Oh, and one more point - if you've been particularly obnoxious in the shop, don't expect the very best in assistance and advice when you've got no idea how to work it!
  • Biggles
    Biggles Posts: 8,209
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    ger8 wrote: »
    If a customer asks me for a discount my reply now is - "Hang on a minute then while I call my Landlord to see if he will reduce my rent this month, and then I'll ring the Council to see if they will reduce my rates"
    or
    "Do you ask Tesco for a reduction if you are buying two loaves of bread or Marks and Spencers if you buy two pairs of socks?"
    I'm sure your line of banter brings the punters flocking in!
    ;-)
  • vyle
    vyle Posts: 2,379
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    I work in the audio/tv section of John Lewis, and am quite surprised to have read how some people have managed to haggle deals out of us, because at my store, we have a very strict 'the price is exactly as marked' policy.

    The reason for this, is, as some people have pointed out, that in electrical, we have TINY profit margins. As JL has the never knowingly undersold policy, we're already matching the lowest high street price, and even after purchase, if the customer finds it cheaper within 28 days, we'll refund the difference.

    This has led to us selling TVs that should be £699 for as little as £445.

    The bizarre thing is, customers are sometimes happier to go to a rival shop that's charging £750 for the same TV and get the psychological victory of haggling off £30 and getting free delivery thrown in and a free HDMI cable than getting nowhere haggling, but saving £300.

    Because of this, we don't haggle at all. Even on ex display/discontinued/clearance lines, there is a set % we drop and no more, and that's already been taken off the original price.

    I can understand why people want to haggle, but sometimes they haggle beyond reason and simply won't take no for an answer. I'd LIKE to be able to give some discount to make my job a lot easier, but to do so would cost me my job.
  • hollydays
    hollydays Posts: 19,812
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    vyle wrote: »
    I work in the audio/tv section of John Lewis, and am quite surprised to have read how some people have managed to haggle deals out of us, because at my store, we have a very strict 'the price is exactly as marked' policy.

    The reason for this, is, as some people have pointed out, that in electrical, we have TINY profit margins. As JL has the never knowingly undersold policy, we're already matching the lowest high street price, and even after purchase, if the customer finds it cheaper within 28 days, we'll refund the difference.

    This has led to us selling TVs that should be £699 for as little as £445.

    The bizarre thing is, customers are sometimes happier to go to a rival shop that's charging £750 for the same TV and get the psychological victory of haggling off £30 and getting free delivery thrown in and a free HDMI cable than getting nowhere haggling, but saving £300.

    Because of this, we don't haggle at all. Even on ex display/discontinued/clearance lines, there is a set % we drop and no more, and that's already been taken off the original price.

    I can understand why people want to haggle, but sometimes they haggle beyond reason and simply won't take no for an answer. I'd LIKE to be able to give some discount to make my job a lot easier, but to do so would cost me my job.

    but john lewis now have the reputation for making it virtually impossible to claim under the price promise.
  • vyle
    vyle Posts: 2,379
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    hollydays wrote: »
    but john lewis now have the reputation for making it virtually impossible to claim under the price promise.

    It's not a very fair reputation. All you have to do is find a cheaper like for like product on the highstreet and then fill in an undersales form, which asks where the product was spotted and how much it cost.

    you can then choose to buy at the JL price and once the undersale is confirmed, be reimbursed for the difference, or simply wait for the undersales team to confirm the price and reduce it in store, which usually takes about 2 days.

    Easy.
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