Blogs
The Art of Bargaining
I’m a teacher, not a businessman. In many people’s eyes, we are socially naïve, and probably just a bookworm. However, circumstances will change everything. After having to do so much purchasing for home decoration, I’ve become something of an expert in bargaining.
When the floor board laying guy came to my house, he asked how much I paid for the boards. He was greatly surprised at the low price I got, and asked if I got it at a group buying event. The fact was that I hadn’t participated in any group buying, nor did I know anybody working in that store.
I suppose bargaining is something everyone should master nowadays in our society. You may not bother to bargain for things of little value. However, you have to be careful when it is a huge household expense and your budget is sort of tight. In many Western countries, everything is marked clearly. The price on the tag is the one that you actually pay. You don’t need to bargain at all. In China if you don’t know how tricky pricing is and don’t realize how greedy merchants can be, ten to one you will be ripped off ruthlessly.
Before I went to buy wooden flooring, I first did a lot of homework. I searched the Internet and consulted some experienced friends. For example, the kinds of wood that are best to be made into flooring boards, their different properties, the latest trends, the techniques in making the boards and the general price ranges of these flooring. Without the knowledge concerning the goods you’re going to buy, it is like fighting an invisible enemy. If you have enough information and know their business more or less, they would not dare to cheat you and most importantly, you would know where the reasonable price might lie during the bargaining process.
Armed with enough information, you can try bargaining with the salespersons. The first step is to squeeze out the water that is artificially added to the original price. Generally you can cut off as much as 20-30%. Remember it is not the “real” price yet. More often than not, the price can still be lowered by 5-20%. In my experience, that’s the authorization salespersons are given in bargaining.
Up to that point the price is generally acceptable. However, I didn’t make a bargain with them. Instead I managed to find the owner of the store and negotiate with him. I told him I trusted the quality of their goods and was serious about buying them if the price could be more affordable. Be careful not to say their price is unreasonable at this point. If you are persistent and using good tactics, you would probably get a real bargain. That is, you can probably get another discount of about 10-20%.
Bargaining is an art. You have to be well-informed about the things you’re going to buy. Your counter offers should be reasonable, too. I mean that you have to allow businesspeople to make some money. Who would like to do non-profit business or lose money in business? Otherwise no deal would be made.
When I said bargaining is an art, I didn’t mean I am a real expert. I’m not sure if I truly got a real bargain, but I hope my experience would be of some help to you guys.
View AllAuthor's latest blogs
Post comment Comment (14 replies)
- Reply rich
- Tange: there is no bargining in some area, such as the supper market.yes, you're right. that's why i like to go shopping at supper markets. however, many things like building materials, are usu attached with a price tag, which could be much much higher than the "real" price.
- Reply sunnyv
- My business involves a lot of bargaining because a few percent reduction could save over 20,000 Rmb. In the beginning I was embarrassed to bargain because I felt it made me look stingy. However, I had no choice because I have to compete with others and my prices has to be good. A lot of psychology and product research is involved in bargaining and I mastered that part quite well. However, I did not go the extremes in cutting prices allowing my suppliers to survive and I can survive too.
The same goes for home renovation because you need to design your renovation and major works so that it can keep within budget. Renovation is probably the most expensive outlay in our major expenses. Savings in worktime, labour costs, material etc could add up to quite substantial savings. It is surely worth making the effort to bargain. Seems you have mastered the bargaining techniques quite well and did it in a respectable manner without sacrificing quality. You still need to keep a close watch on the works to ensure that there is no substandard work. Normally floorboards are laid in newly built premises, so in your case, it could be a bit of tricky. Go to the internet to find out how floor boards are laid and what are the pitfalls.
Laying wood floorboards is much easier, faster than tiles and uses much less labour so you should expect them to take care of the fine details. The workmen would not like you to watch and would not welcome your comments, however, you are the one who would be using it so you have to be concerned. Ensure that the gaps are waterproof and does not allow water seepage. Once water enters the wood under, it would rot the board. Make sure the places which are clearly visible like the main area of the living room, near doors are well laid, even and without vacuum underneath. Every tree produces different colored wood, so ensure that the colors of the wood are the same, otherwise, the floor would look odd. Make sure you have given the floor sufficient time to dry and acclimatise before stepping on it and placing heavy furniture onto it. Good quality boards are vacuum packed at the factory to retain suitable moisture. There are disputes as to whether the boards packaging should be removed to acclimatise with your home environment a days or two before laying. Note that larger boards shrink and expand with the seasons, the workmen should be experts and know how to project these differences.
Wooden flooring can provide a special classy feel if well done and well maintained. Looks like you would have great flooring.
- Reply fleaf
- I am a businessman, and i know a little about bargain.When i buy sth , i always think about how much they gain from me. Haha....
- Reply Tange
- sunnyv: My business involves a lot of bargaining because a few percent reduction could save over 20,000 Rmb. In the beginning I was embarrassed to bargain bec<<allowing my suppliers to survive and I can survive too.>> the way of win-win business .
- Reply sunnyv
- Tange: <<allowing my suppliers to survive and I can survive too.>> the way of win-win business .A engineer with a business sense. Unlimited future.
- Reply rich
- sunnyv: My business involves a lot of bargaining because a few percent reduction could save over 20,000 Rmb. In the beginning I was embarrassed to bargain becreading your comment, i feel the warmth from a faraway friend. though we are in quite different careers, we do have a lot in common. nowadays doing business or xiahai in chinese, is nothing new in people's mind. i believe many of them are honest and have good work ethics. however, there are some who are black-hearted, as we often say. i hope there will be more and more businesspeople like you who make money legally and respectably.
my wife and i both like to use tiles in the sitting room, not only for economic reasons but for easy maintenance. but ours is not a new house, we are living in it. and laying titles would need a lot of water and probably the neighboring wooden fixtures like doors and decorative tv background, would be affected by the damp and might rot later on. sometimes we have to choose something less bad when there's no ideal solution.
as for the choosing of flooring, i think i was very cautious for the simple reason that i dont want to re-do it, which is mentally physically and financially exhausting. it's just beyond words. i would rather have something common but quality guarranteed. the question is that you never know for sure if your choice is wise or not until you have used it several years.
yes it is extremely important to have the floor boards properly laid. the workman seems experienced and told me that this kind of boards are used a lot in my area and have proved trustworthy. i wish fate would not play a joke on me this time. but you never know.
floor boards today are all paint free. you don't need to paint. so no water seepage seems hard, though the joining is close and tight with one concavo and another convex.
allow me to thank you again. and have a good and coool day!
- Reply snowflying
- wow,my god,when i read your this article, i think i have to say a sentence even a word, you have finally finished your course for home floor,and have gotten a relative good ideal result,though so much twists and turns. whether tile or wooden, beautiful and comfortable feeling is our final goal after all.
my home is laying tile too,though many people advised we should use wooden floor in our 4 bedroom. just because my knowing less and difficult maintaining, and the same sight feeling between sitting-room and bedroom(though depart into upstair and downstair with the stair), i can't imagine what a sight two kinds of floors at home. maybe wooden floor better in bedroom than in sitting room. in my next decorate, i would like use the wooden floor in all rooms.you have so much experience in buying,especially in some building materials, whether its quality or price. maybe more teaching when my next decorate. i really wonder whether you can get the real true price while stay a reasonal profit gap. in shopping field, especially as a female,i'm not a successful person, sometimes my husband says whether because i have so enough money that no any discount in market, really feel some shame, because in our female's field, i should do it well and more carefully as other females,but i do it so badly usually ,maybe many money have been wasted by me? after reading your blog, i surely should be improve my buying thereafter, thankful for share your experience,hehe.....
- Reply rich
- snowflying: wow,my god,when i read your this article, i think i have to say a sentence even a word, you have finally finished your course for home floor,and haveyes i did experience a lot of twists and turns. though the project has not been completed yet, hopefully i will get it done and have a nice and comfortable sitting room and dining room. but it has to wait for several years before we know if it is good or not.
as i see it, women/girls are born with the talent of buying things. i believe you are one of them. it can be hidden, just waiting to be tapped.
- Reply bluephoebe
- home decoration is indeed a competence built-up journey---we do learn a lot from such experience. in fact i learned much more negotiation skills than any trainings i got involved in. but after reading your articles, i should say you are the expect indeed. i can cut off 30% at most, but surely you did much better. great job!
- Reply rich
- bluephoebe: home decoration is indeed a competence built-up journey---we do learn a lot from such experience. in fact i learned much more negotiation skills thanwe have similar experiences in the process of home decoration. as you said we did learn something in bargaining. i have to admit it is also tiring, for you have to charge yourself with related knowledge beforehand and have to see through various tricks businesspeople usu do. i guess your new home must be very nice and cozy.
