Haggling: to bargain in a petty, quibbling, and often in a manner likely to cause argument
I like haggling in good faith. Many times people view haggling as inconsequential but it is indeed part of the sale process (when applicable) and as such should have the process respected.
Good haggling is a discussion, a back and forth testing eachother, not a single side asking for a price reduction and the other side responding with no. Haggling should end with both parties feeling satisfied with the deal, because if you get angry the deal collapses. Similar to Poker, it includes reading the other person and giving them some idea of what your intents are without showing your whole hand.
Personally I like haggling with a bit of whimsy, even if I take a loss it can be worth the emotional entertainment I get from it, give me a reason real or fake but really sell it.
First step
is to see if they are open to haggling. Many people dont understand the process, especially online where nuance is not able to be read, so they are not open to it. If they are not open to âhagglingâ, some may still be willing to offer a discount to close the deal right away, like the set idea of 10% off. This depends on their needs or intent of effort in the process. In extreme cases, theyâll say they are open to offers but really have specific ideas of what they want already, ex: 95% market value even though they listed as an auction. Sellers arent wanting to do more work, dont force them to do more work by having them tell you their lowest and work against themselves, do the work for them by giving an offer of where you want to be.
Second step
if they are open to haggling is to throw out your walkaway price. The price that you will be happy with if they say yes right away, where you wont regret that maybe you should have gone for more off. For the buyer it should never be higher than where you want to be in the end because then you are fighting the sellers idea of where it is already valued and best case is a seller might cave for lower to no longer deal with you. Your walkaway price should be respectful to the value since the seller may laugh in your face if its too low and block you, although in person its easier to make the suggestion âWould you do $X for it?â get the response âNot a chanceâ but still follow up âWell what are you thinking?â or âWhere do you want to be on it?â
Next step
is to take their answer and apply logic and reason to it. Is it inline with what you are thinking? Some sellers are delusional, some buyers are, but you cant come to a haggling agreement if someone is ridiculously off on their value. If it is in the ballpark, you can appeal to their emotions or appeal to their logic.
-Logic is giving them all the facts and comps, this can backfire if the seller has already done their homework. If theyve done that and still priced it high, then they are looking for an easy mark, not for someone trying to haggle a reasonable price. If your logic is sound then either they will sell or theyâll want more than what you offer.
-Emotional pleas can create a sense of camaraderie with them but requires you to be able to pick up on social cues and that can be hard, especially if you arent good enough to understand if this is a good strategy or not in the moment. If your emotional plea is good then you may be able to get them to reason out why they should lose money on the deal, or even more directly get the information of what their price must be.
Finally
you use all of this to close the deal. By this time you should know what price they need to be at for the deal to be made. Either you close the deal or you press your luck, see if you can roll this into another deal. You can also repeat step 2 to get more clarification on the sellers valuation but instead of a walkaway price you give them a number between walkway and logic, this is a deception price. You make them think you arent happy with the price so they are winning the haggle when really you are still in your range below price and logic.
In person example:
Card is at $100, Valued $95, Your budget $80
Interested in this card, would you do $70 on it? No way
Well where do you need to be on it? I can do $90
Any chance of $75 for it? Itâd be great for my family member who loves that card. Cant do it
Well, recent comps put it at $95, after shipping and fees your going to be out a bit more on it. I can do $80 right now and still make my family member thrilled. I paid $75 myself on it, I cant do $80.
Well look, the deal is right here, you still make some and get rid of it, easy deal, btw wheres your shop at? Do you have a card or insta, is this listed on there, I look from time to time for some bigger purchases as wellâŚ
Also, to answer your question, my first counter offer as a buyer will rarely include more details. My second counter offer may have more details but usually the seller has delusional pricing. I may just give a reason of this is my budget right now (usually true) and will drop it for a while if they dont take it.
If the seller gave more information, that would immediately let me know to continue or drop it.
