The Negotiator

The one thing you can say about the holidays is that retailers really go out of their way to sell you stuff. With a little moxey you can make some fantastic deals.

A week before Christmas, Greg and I went window shopping for furniture. We weren't in a hurry but we wanted to get a feel for current market prices since we hadn't bought anything in a while, and you know how sticker shock can put you into a coma.

Click on the picture to make it bigger.

On our last stop, we hit a high-end store that carries the style of furniture we like. It was no surprise they were running a sale. After sitting on several different sofas, I parted ways with Greg and we explored separately.

This does a couple of things. #1 Shopping separately, we can narrow down our choices to pieces we like as individuals. And #2, we're not influenced by the other person.

But it also brings about a third bonus. The salesman is forced to choose one of us to tail. Unfortunately for him, he chose Greg. Greg proceeds to tell this young man that I am a godless terror and will not be easily satisfied. (Spoken like a man with experience. LOL.)

By the time that poor salesman sees me again, he is convinced I am capable of cannibalism. 

Remarkably, Greg and I both picked the same sofas and we were ready to buy. Our intrepid salesman approaches me, since he now realizes I'm the one who has the final say and offers me a second discount.

I look over at Greg and give him a wink. With my sweetest smile, I tell the salesman that we'll buy two sofas, but he's going to have to give me his best price on both. He visits with his manager and returns with a fairly good offer, but I shook my head.

I'm sorry, says I. But xxxx is as high as I want to go. He chops a little more off--including delivery. I walk over to the furniture and inspect it again. That's when he throws in the five year warranty.

Needless to say--we shook hands.

The point of this story is that I was willing to close the deal a long time ago. But my hesitation and scrutiny made him squirm enough that he kept offering more and more.

My second great buy was a Kitchenaid mixer. Generally around 200 bucks.  But then Amazon emailed me with an even better price on the mixer. I went to the web site to read the stats and put it into my shopping cart just to keep an eye on it. 

Well, as soon as I did that, an American Express discount showed up on my page. I didn't ask why it offered such a big discount, and I didn't care. But it made the deal sweet enough to buy right then and there. Unfortunately, I had to go out that day (on that memorable furniture run) so I left the screen up, intending to come back later.

When I got back, the discount was pulled. I was angry, but Greg said, buy it. It's still a great price. I don't know about you, but even a 'great' price pales in comparison when I know there was once something better.

I emailed Amazon and asked them why they pulled the discount. The customer service rep replied within three minutes and told me if I went ahead with the order, he'd refund the difference. Not being one to trust giant conglomerates I sucked it up and took a leap of faith.

Amazon was good to its word and gave me my discount. After I added a $15 gift certificate someone had given me, it brought the price down to 99 bucks. Not bad for one of these babies.

I've always been a good negotiator. Not because I like to haggle, (I never haggle) but because I always leave the ball in the other guy's court. I don't have any qualms about walking away from a deal, and that is my ace in the hole.

Have you scored any good deals recently? Do you have any negotiating tips that have worked well for you?

By the way, it's been three weeks and Iko has been good, only getting up on the sofa once. He chose the cloth sofa for napping--which is why I chose it too. (Very comfy.) The leather sofa has that theater seating with reclining seats. Neither dog has figured out how to work the levers.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.