Haggling Is In

Have you ever haggled?? Well if you haven't ever done it before, now's the time to try. Apparently, more businesses are willing to accept some wheeling and dealing.

I'll share with you our experiences with haggling.

Some years ago when we wanted to buy a quality dining table, large enough for our family of 6, my husband said for the kids and I to pick out the one we liked and he'd make the salesman an offer. I scoffed at my husband and told him that I thought he was wasting his time, furniture businesses don't haggle. Haggling is for swap-meets and yard sales. He said, "I have cash. Cash talks." He pointed out that furniture stores especially like cash because so many people buy on credit.

So once we picked out the table we wanted, my husband informed the salesman that we would be paying with cash and that he wanted to make the man a deal. The salesman offered to bring the price down by $200 dollars. My husband said that he also didn't want to pay taxes on the table. The salesman balked at that. When my husband insisted, he said he would speak to the manager. He returned and though his grin wasn't like the Cheshire cat's, we bought our dining table, which came with four chairs, a bench, and a butterfly leaf for $900 instead of $1200.

I haggled successfully two Christmases ago. It was Christmas Eve and I had wanted to buy my daughter a hope chest. I looked at several stores to no avail. Finally I found one. It was at a nearby store. I remembered that I had seen their advertisement when they had received the shipment of chests several months before the holiday. I did not think they would still have any left. Fortunately there was one still in stock. When I inquired as to the price, I found out that it was on sale.

Unfortunately, after shopping for 5 other children, I wasn't left with enough to pay the asking price. I called my husband to tell him I had found the chest, but that I needed more money. He encouraged me to offer the manager what we had. I said I couldn't, that she would not accept it! He told me he knew that she would. Cash talks! So I mustered up my courage and made my offer to the manager. Imagine my surprise when she said yes, she'd be glad to bring down the price and I ended up saving 40%.

So if you've never haggled before, or if you thought haggling was only acceptable at certain places, remember that cash talks and right now everyone needs money so something is better than nothing!




( I burned my daughter's name and this decoration onto the hope chest. Then my youngest daughter made her first drawing of a girl on it. Now Camille doesn't want the green girl erased!)