Haggling

[Sabine]

Haggling is something i absolutely despise. I have been selling quite a lot of my pregnancy and baby wear recently. I usually price it to the lowest amount acceptable to me. Very often things are priced as low as 15% of their original value and they are usually in excellent condition. It drives me crazy when people still want to haggle and think €5 is outrageous to ask for a hardly used item that was at least €50 initially.
I often have withdrawn from sales when people started haggling as I get so angry.

I get the feeling some people do it out of principle. Only the other day I had someone asking to buy a rabbit of me and as I was still checking the person out (wondering whether I want to sell to them at all) he asked what was the best price I could sell the rabbit???!!!:shock: I straight away recommended other places and he was very quick to assure me that he would pay full price but I was so annoyed. Why would people do it when they are getting a bargain already. I find it so insulting and probably take it much to personal than I should.

 

[slavetoabunny]

I know exactly what you are saying. It seems to be the "flea market" mentality. Even at a flea market, I wouldn't think of haggling.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

There are some cultures that get insulted if you don't haggle. They will try to haggle for just about anything.

I think it depends on the situation. I won't haggle in a grocery store, but might try to get a deal on clothing that be have a blemish or something. At garage sales, I might haggle for some things, but I usually just pay the price if I think it is good.

For people haggling with me, it depends on the situation and what I think is a good deal. If I am selling something for $25 or have 2 for $40, I am less likely to go lower. I am not going to sell it for $15. I will consider a reasonable offer, but I am not afraid to say no if I don't like it.

 

[Sabine]

The thing is, I am usually super generous with discounts and freebies (except when it comes to rabbits) once the person does not ask for it. By demanding a lower price I feel the person is saying to me that I am greedy for having set this particular price for the item.
I do appreciate that in many cultures this is part of the course but would not think it common practice in Western Europe. Having said that I would ask for a discount in a clothes shop if I discover a fault with an item that the sales person may not have noticed. That is only reasonable.
The experience of selling stuff to people (something I don't usually do) is quite a learning curve and I found it teaches you a lot about yourself.

 

[fuzz16]

things sold on craigslist i will haggle...i know people are trying to get best for their buck but sometimes its overpriced as is and meaning i am poor..i have no problem offending someone to go lower on something if its something i need. like baby clothes for example...their expensive.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

some of my friends say it's because I'm Scottish, but I even haggle when I go shopping in stores. With your situation in hand, some people are looking to re-sell what they buy and do get insulting. Decades ago I had a motorcycle for sale and had a similar experience. I had priced it very low, it had low mileage, and was in top condition. A guy came by, looked it over and then offered me half of what I asked. I told him to leave at which point he wanted to pay full price as it was a bargain and I told him I'd rather throw it into the ocean than sell it to him. Some think you are desperate or want to get something for nothing. Anymore if I have something to sell I make it clear about the price I want and whether or not I'm willing to discuss it--usually not!

 

[irishbunny]

Haha Sabine the Irish are notorious for haggling we don't want to pay the full price for anything
Personally I wouldn't haggle for a decent rabbit, though I probably would if the rabbit was a lot more expensive then it really should be.

Haggling for animals goes back a long way though. I live in the country and have a lot of farmer friends and when they are buying live stock they never pay the full price. Sometimes they will add on a bit when they are selling because they know they'll be haggled with. If they aren't haggled then they give back a 'luck penny' which is a small amount of money back for luck and best wishes.

I think it is kind of in us to not pay the full price for an animal and chance our arm to get it cheaper. I'd say adding on an extra fiver and allowing them to haggle you down would be a good idea or else just say straight up that you can't possibly go lower then the asking price. I know it's annoying but its part of the culture. There is nothing more fun to watch then a farmer haggling for a cow

 

[Sabine]

In the past I used to give all my unwanted stuff to friends or to charity shops (even really expensive things like designer pregnancy and children's clothes, prams, cots you name it... As I am unemployed at the moment and money is tight and I have the extra time I thought selling things would be a good idea, but sometimes I wonder is it worth the effort after going through all the hassle of taking pictures and creating the ad and then go through the annoying process of people haggling to sell it just for a couple of € in the end.
I appreciate that some people haggle because they truly are on a tight budget but usually the worst hagglers do it just for sport. I had this lady recently who kept pushing and pushing until I gave in and sold her two items that were bought for about €80 initially for something like €12. Then she ended up taking ages about paying and not getting back in touch so I sold the items to someone else. The lady was outraged as apparently she had been caught up in business meetings for days...... Typical!

 

[Sabine]

Haha, Grace, the very first person who ever haggled over a rabbit was Lithuanian:biggrin:
But I know what you mean. It must be my German origin that I feel totally dishonest adding something to the price just for people to haggle me down.
I do have a "no-haggling-discount" though which I give at my discretion. This works out usually way better than haggling me down a euro or so.

 

[EileenH]

I absolutely hate haggling too but my older brother haggled since he said his first word. It can be cultural but sometimes it is just who you are! He used to go to flea markets when he was little and play the "I'm just a little boy!" card and get things for like a dime. I never wanted to go anywhere with him.
Now he too busy to haggle so he usually pays the whole price, but he has no problem returning things years later. He recently returned a huge plasma TV to Costco (it had a lifetime return policy, but still...) and got a new one. I forget the reason but it was probably 5 years old when he returned it.

I had a yard sale a few years ago and true, I wanted to move the stuff along. But it was outrageous what people would offer. I had one blanket of things priced $1 each. Someone came over and said "I'll give you 50 cents for the whole blanket". I told them to leave and then gave it away to free to the next person and never had a yard sale again!

 

[Sabine]

I find i give people who don't haggle way bigger discounts than those who try to beat down the price. I also don't take extra time to double check with them if they have ordered the right sizes etc.
I just sold a set of clothes this morning and discovered after that I had a matching item that I could have added (for free) I normally would have done but the person did not pay the asking price so I just did not feel generous!:nasty:

 

[Jynxie]

Whenever I put something on Kijiji or craigslist I either put FIRM, and I don't have people haggle with me at all.
I usually do this on electronics.

When I have sold other things, I usually will ask for more then my minimum is. So if the lowest I would go is 20 dollars, I'd ask for 25. That way, when they ask for 20 I have no problem giving it to them.

I have haggled for animals before also, when I was buying a pair of baby corn snakes. I asked for a deal. I got 2 snakes that were 45 dollars each for 80.

I'm Scottish also, go figure.

 

[Colorguarder08]

The only time I have ever haggled was when I felt the person was asking too much on an item and tried to justify it by saying how much they originally paid. For example I have 2 cockatiels and am looking for a bigger cage, well I found one on kijiji however the person was asking $150 for it they had used it for gienea pigs (which right a way told me even more disinfecting than usual would be needed than if another bird had used it instead). plus in the picture you couldn't really see the bar spacing or anything because they had plexiglass from the bottom of the cage to the top of the cage and the reflection made it hard to see ANY of the cage plus it was about half an hour away from me so I offered $75 unless they took the plexiglass out and took a pic so I could actually see the cage and they refused to take out the plexiglass and refused my offer. Now that same cage is STILL on kijiji 5 months later only now it is at $75 but I won't bother making another offer on it.

 

[slavetoabunny]

I helped out at a yard sale last weekend to benefit our rescue. I very quickly learned to ask twice what we really wanted to get!

 

[Colorguarder08]

Yeah. There is a ferret shelter about 40 minutes from me that is always posting on craigslist about wanting to sell some of it's stuff to help raise money and I would love to go volunteer there but again 40 minutes from me makes it kinda hard to do so especially with being on a tight budget and everything.

 

[Sabine]

If I was selling other people's stuff especially to raise money I think I would not mind haggling so much as it would not be as personal. I am just quite attached to some of my stuff and take good care of it that's why I get so offended when someone just casually offers me a few Euro for items that were bought for something like 6times more than the asking price:X

 

[Jynxie]

I personally sell most things for 50% less then I bought it for. Unless it was something like (a ps3) or similar. Because it is a used item.

Because I know if I'm just saving 10 dollars, it's not worth the hassle of going to their house, trying to contact them through email, giving strangers my phone number... I also like to open new things, so that might just be me.

But if someone was trying to tell me something that they bought for a 100 dollars, for 80 bucks.
I'd probably still just go buy it new tbh, I'd only ever buy it off them if it was like 60 bucks or lower.

 

[Sabine]

That's why I am so frustrated when I offer second hand clothes in almost new condition for something like 20% of their purchase price and I am still offered half of what I am asking