What to say when haggling?

System

Has anyone tried haggling the price down on a brand new house? I have seen a house on a plot of land that would be nice - but it would mean probably borrowing more money than i would have liked.

moggins

In the current market I can't see why not, you'd make an offer on an older house wouldn't you?

illmonkey

Judi wrote:

Has anyone tried haggling the price down on a brand new house? I have seen a house on a plot of land that would be nice - but it would mean probably borrowing more money than i would have liked.

I would put a lower offer on a new build that a old build.

If its part of a development then these companys will make LOADS on it, so are happy to take less.

If its 200k offer £190,000 and stamp duty paid. Why not!?

Poppy9

Before I bought my current house we were looking at a new build with Redrow (10 years ago). The 3 bed detached house we could easily afford was too small and the larger 4 bed house a bit over our price range. If I remember rightly it was about 110k and our max was 95k (as I was pregnant we didn't really want to go over this). They wouldn't budge from 110k. No stamp duty paid, no carpets, no appliances. Glad we didn't buy their house anyway as in the newspaper a couple of years later owners complaining about quality of build and lack of mortar between the bricks.

webmasterpolo

2 examples for you:

1st is a new sofa and ottoman. Ticket price is £399 in the sale and the ottoman is £169, delivery £35.

First asked for a total price expecting a small discount included. Was told the exact price with no discount, £603. Mentioned address was close and got offered free delivery £568. Said the price was still way to high and I would only pay £450 cash. Salesmen laughed and said even in cash he only had a small discount he could offer, I said ok and we started looked towards the door. He said he'd check with his boss and came back with £475, pretty good but not the £450 I wanted, he said "we can do £475 for you, how's that?" I said "ok then, thanks" and walked out the showroom into the entrance foyer, he followed us out and said hold on I can check again and the boss agreed £450. So £153 discount or over 25% below the "sale" price.

2nd is my brand spanking new Honda Accord! (coming on Tuesday 22nd Nov). Spoke to loads of Honda dealers and got their best prices. List price on the model I want is £22,100. Got a best price quote of £20,000.

Went into my local dealer and was offered a 6 month old car with 7000 miles for £21,000. Laughed and said I'd been quoted £20,000 for a brand new one. Same story he went back and forth to his manager £21,000 for the brand new one, then £19,500 including my part ex (worth £1,000), then after continually insisting on £20,000 he offered £20,250 with free mats and fuel and fast delivery. Accepted this as to be honest I didn't think it would go any lower and the £20,000 price I had been quoted was somewhere in Wales where prices tend to be lower anyway (tried calling about other cars and Wales was always cheapest).

So got £22,155 (inc mats) list price for £20,250. £1905 discount or 8.6% discount.

Altough not a massive amount the used market prices are higher than this price (also checked autotrader) so I got a new car for less than the same car used.

I love haggling, such fun.

-Web

bbruce

A lot of good advice here. Know what it's worth, be pleasant but stand your ground, be prepared to walk away, etc.
Heres my twopenneth:
Next time you're abroad in a country that haggling is commomplace e.g. Egypt, try various techniques to improve your haggling skills. You probably won't know the true price of anything so stick to lower value items first.
First try the "I'm in a hurry - what's your best price?" technique.
Next time, provided you have the time, accept their hospitality, sit down and drink their tea and let them talk about all sorts. When they get to the price, it will be invariably lower than method one and you can still wince and get it down more.
After you've been there a while and have spoken to other shoppers, you'll have a much better idea of the real price of things and will look back at what you paid on the first day and realise you'd been had despite your haggling! Therefore, keep your major purchases until your last day.
Other techniques: go early and be their first customer which is a good omen for them; or go just as they are closing and they'll start at a realistic, if not their best price.
When you get home, try and remember what techniques worked best for you.