[CrimsonRequiem]

Originally Posted by Dysfunction

Largely because they are no longer the only game in town and they know it. On the other hand, I saw someone return a 20+ year old canoe to Sears and demand a new one about 25 years ago.. and Sears did it. The canoe was damaged too

Wow Sears sells canoes? Didn't know that. >_>"

[D3v1L80Y]

Originally Posted by noisreh

I love that one comment, their [sic] is no haggling in retail! That's like saying you cannot haggle over anything in our world today.

Actually, if you read the post in its entirety, it does say:

Originally Posted by D3v1L80Y

You haggle over the price of a car or a house... you can haggle at a yard sale... you can even haggle at an outdoor Middle Eastern produce market... and that's about it.

There is no haggling in retail.

If you don't like the price, either find it cheaper elsewhere or simply don't buy it.

So, yes, as I pointed out haggling does have its place.
The examples I've listed where haggling is acceptable are cases when the sale price is openly and expectedly up for negotiation.
Offers and counter-offers are common place in such transactions.

However, that practice is not prevalent in a retail establishment.
Attempting to do so is highly unorthodox and in many cases simply rude and unacceptable behavior.

So, answer these questions for me:

Would you haggle over the price of Corn Flakes at the grocery store?
Would you haggle over the price of medications at the pharmacy?
Would you haggle over the price of gasoline when you visit the pumps?
Would you haggle over the price of a CD at the music store?
Would you haggle over the price of a ticket at the movie theater?
Would you haggle over the price of a visit to your doctor?
Would you haggle over the price of a value meal at a fast food joint?
Would you haggle over the price of a pack of gum at a corner store?
Would you haggle over the price of the KWH price on your electric bill?

If you wouldn't for any or all of them, I would be interested in knowing why you wouldn't.
If you would for any or all of them, again I would like to know the reasoning behind your choice.

I'm curious to read your replies.

Regarding the other comment:

So all in all it's a benefit for us consumers. We get cheaper and a better quality of product all around.

Not necessarily.
We may get cheaper costing items... but that doesn't mean that the quality doesn't suffer in the process.

In order for a company to offer a cheaper product, they have to cut corners somewhere if they are to remain profitable.
More often than not, the corners that are cut reduce the overall quality of the items they produce.

Be it cheaper materials, reduced quality control, less expensive shipping methods or simply offshore production... these all reduce the overall quality in one respect or another.
Cut too many corners and eventually, much like a chair with one or more unequally sized and/or missing legs, something will collapse and fall.

[technologist]

There's lots of haggling in retail, but it depends on where you go and what you're buying.

Forget haggling at Target or Kmart.

Best Buy is usually pretty poor about haggling on regular items. You might have better luck on open-box items, or anything they're desperate to unload. You might could get a deal on a warranty or car audio installation, too.

Sears, Roebuck salespeople in the appliances and electronics departments are on commission. They'll haggle like a used car dealer. If you pay sticker price for a washing machine or plasma TV at Sears, you're a chump.

Most big furniture stores will drop prices pretty easily. Especially if you're buying a whole set.

Apple sets pretty strict and consistent pricing, so most of the time, it's not in a store's interest to discount them. The one exception would be when a model has been replaced; you might be able to wrangle a discount (or at least some free accessories.)

[Dysfunction]

Originally Posted by CrimsonRequiem

Wow Sears sells canoes? Didn't know that. >_>"

Not in a LONG time now Heck, my first rifle was bought at Sears could buy jeep parts too in their catalog

[technologist]

Originally Posted by Dysfunction

Not in a LONG time now

They do have kayaks.

[Dysfunction]

Originally Posted by technologist

They do have kayaks.

right on! Sears used to have EVERYTHING! Bass boats too!

[the8thark]

Originally Posted by Chris H.

There's a sort of law that goes here. Law of Demand: When prices go up, demand goes down and vice versa. There's another law: Law of Supply: more will be offered for sale at higher prices than at lower prices.

I totally agree there and with your post.
But I am a cheapo who always tries to buck those laws to get a good price

Originally Posted by D3v1L80Y

Would you haggle over the price of Corn Flakes at the grocery store?
Would you haggle over the price of medications at the pharmacy?
Would you haggle over the price of gasoline when you visit the pumps?
Would you haggle over the price of a CD at the music store?
Would you haggle over the price of a ticket at the movie theater?
Would you haggle over the price of a visit to your doctor?
Would you haggle over the price of a value meal at a fast food joint?
Would you haggle over the price of a pack of gum at a corner store?
Would you haggle over the price of the KWH price on your electric bill?

Ok my answers to all of those.

-No cause I'm happy paying the price I do. I think for where I am cornflakes are a fair price.
-No cause I do not drive.
-Yes all the time. I shop around, and I tell some stores other stores prices and see if they can beat it. Sure most times they are like go away, but sometimes they are like alright I'll sell the album to you for a cheaper price. It's a hard thing to bargin at the record stores but when it pays off I feel all good inside. Cause I love my music.
-Heck yes. I get my student discount + I ask for $1 off always cause I go tuesday night. They have no Tuesday specials I just say "come on it's your slow night, so give me the $1 off and I'll buy the ticket" and it works at the place I go sometimes.
-No. Cause I'm poor and I get bulk billing.
-No. I'm a chef and have to time and no want to eat fast food.
-No cause I do not eat gum.
-Personally no. But the public as a whole in my state has put a petition forward in court to have the rate lowered. So that's kind of haggling on a mass scale.

[randoo53]

Originally Posted by D3v1L80Y

However, that practice is not prevalent in a retail establishment.
Attempting to do so is highly unorthodox and in many cases simply rude and unacceptable behavior.

I'm curious as to why you think this is rude and unacceptable?
My response to your list of questions for haggling would be..You don't know until you ask. If I try to get a discount on something (anything on your list) and I am told no, then I don't ask again. But IF I DONT ASK, how will I know?
Examples:
Call a Hotel for a room rate. THEN ask them if they will give you a discount for AAA or AARP. Most often they will but they didn't quote me that UNTIL I ASKED. What was rude about asking there?
My ISP quoted me a rate that I (obviously) accepted and paid for over a year until I found out they were offering less to others after me. I wasn't called and informed that I could get it cheaper. They were all too happy to accept my money. I ASKED them about lowering the rate because I felt I was not getting the best deal and they gladly gave me a better rate. They did not call me rude for asking. How is that unacceptable?
The Bottom line is: You never know until you ask if a price is set or not. All they can do is say yes or no. If that is rude...so be it. Personally I think someone who doesn't at least ASK for a discount (assuming they want one that is...) then they will never know if they could have gotten a better price.
Rude or not.

[D3v1L80Y]

Originally Posted by randoo53

I'm curious as to why you think this is rude and unacceptable?
My response to your list of questions for haggling would be..You don't know until you ask. ...

Asking is fine.
I agree with you on that.

If you ask and it's yes, then you might score a deal.
If the answer is no, then it's no.
Asking once is fine.
You ask and you get an answer.

That isn't haggling, though.

Haggling is when someone fails to accept the answer they are given.
Haggling would imply a rigorous back and forth session of offer/counter offer.
Haggle is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as:

to annoy or exhaust with wrangling over the price

Haggling is hounding, pleading, making "offers" or demands and giving the idle threat of an ultimatum "I'll just take my business elsewhere" in hopes to break down the will and patience of a retailer until a person gets a certain price.

It is argumentative and rude.

So, again, asking is perfectly fine.
Just be prepared to accept the answer you receive... and "No" is a perfectly acceptable answer.

[technologist]

M-W notes that that usage is archaic.

The OS X Oxford dictionary defines it as, "dispute or bargain persistently, esp. over the cost of something." That's a much better definition.

There's a fine art to haggling. You have to be friendly enough to keep the seller's interest, but firm and persistent enough to overcome resistance.If you're rude and abusive, you not only won't get a discount, you'll likely get thrown out or arrested. That's no way to haggle.

Ever bought a car? If you didn't haggle (eg. you paid full sticker, or bought a Saturn) you paid too much.

[D3v1L80Y]

Originally Posted by technologist

If you're rude and abusive, you not only won't get a discount, you'll likely get thrown out or arrested. That's no way to haggle.

And therein lies the issue.

Asking once for a discount or 'better' price is acceptable... flat out arguing and throwing a tantrum like a toddler isn't.

I have witnessed this sort of unruly behavior and rude haggling on many occasions both as a passing observer while shopping and as the employee being "haggled" with.
In almost every case, the 'customer' (and I use the term loosely) has always prevailed... despite their rude, belligerent and abusive behavior.
Even when, in the position of manager if I denied a discount or cheaper price for a haggler, I was eventually overruled by a district/regional manager or other corporate suit.
Despite that I had been berated, verbally abused, threatened with 'legal' action and even in some cases, bodily harm... my decision to deny a haggler was overturned by someone in a position higher than I.

Ever bought a car? If you didn't haggle (eg. you paid full sticker, or bought a Saturn) you paid too much.

I have bought several cars over the years.
I have also noted that this is an acceptable time to haggle... though for me the preferred term would be negotiate.

Haggling implies a negative action, akin to whining or baseless demanding.
Negotiating has a more respectable and civilized tone to it.
So, don't 'haggle' and think that you are 'negotiating'.
The two terms aren't really interchangeable.

[VegasGeorge]

It is possible to get a deal at Best Buy. A few weeks ago Apple introduced a new model 13" macbook. Our Best Buy still had a few of the old models left in stock. I bought one for our computer club for $585.00, and that price included a Snow Leopard disk and they threw in an external video monitor adaptor. I know that their employees got one or two of them, and my friend was lucky enough to get another one. My club is delighted with the purchase. However, as a rule I prefer to buy from the Apple Store.

[Chris H.]

Originally Posted by VegasGeorge

It is possible to get a deal at Best Buy. A few weeks ago Apple introduced a new model 13" macbook. Our Best Buy still had a few of the old models left in stock. I bought one for our computer club for $585.00, and that price included a Snow Leopard disk and they threw in an external video monitor adaptor. I know that their employees got one or two of them, and my friend was lucky enough to get another one. My club is delighted with the purchase. However, as a rule I prefer to buy from the Apple Store.

I checked out my Best Buy. They had NUMEROUS old 13" MacBooks left over. Including the beat up display model with no battery and a sticky (or powerful) magnetic latch. The display model was like, $899 (as advertised too), but I heard you could get a sweet deal on them. I told my Dad, and he said no.

Although the display model I did test and mess around with. Smooth, but if you open up the "Try This Mac" application, everything bogs down to a standstill.

[idrinorbarsaku]

Originally Posted by D3v1L80Y

No, products at a retail establishment are set at a price from the manufacturer.


You haggle over the price of a car or a house... you can haggle at a yard sale... you can even haggle at an outdoor Middle Eastern produce market... and that's about it.

There is no haggling in retail.

If you don't like the price, either find it cheaper elsewhere or simply don't buy it.

Dude, this is so far from the truth! You can DEFINITELY haggle prices at best-buy. It's only some items, like some computers, and items already on sale, that can't get their price lowered. You can't get them to mix the prices of two or more items if one of those item's price can't be lowered. We got an awesome deal on our sony 1000 watt surround system! But, if you go right into the store asking for the lowest price, all you will get is a big, GTHO!

[VegasGeorge]

Originally Posted by Chris H.

I checked out my Best Buy. They had NUMEROUS old 13" MacBooks left over.

Here in Las Vegas we are lucky to have three Apple Stores. I imagine that our local Best Buys don't keep a lot of Apple inventory for that reason. In areas where there are no Apple Stores close by, I bet the Best Buys do have a lot more stock on hand. We called around to all six of our Best Buys, and I know we got the last three of the close outs in town.