Some people were born to haggle, negotiate, cajole, whatever you call it. The rest of us need some guidance. Here are 10 great negotiating tactics to use next time you want to get more for less.
10. Start with the 15-to-20-percent rule
This one's for the shier, more nervous negotiators, the types who don't like to cause a big hassle to save some money—like, say, at least two of your Lifehacker editors. If you're unsure where to start knocking around prices, try starting with 15 to 20 percent less than your absolute top spending limit, as suggested by the Today show. It's basically marching up to the mark-up the seller is probably putting on the product you're trying to get, and moving incrementally down from there. Real simple, but you gotta start somewhere, right?
9. Ace your performance review, get a raise
Jump into that yearly chat blind, and you're likely to leave your supervisor thinking you're just a little better at FreeCell than he or she is. But if you've been quietly, easily building an accomplishments file, you've at least go something to talk about for more than five minutes. And if you know what they're looking for, your only job is to sell what you did, what you want to do, and how much it's worth to your company to do it for another year. Sounds simple? Unless you make it more complicated, it really is.
8. Know the salary you can really get
In a few rare cases, a salary is a stone-solid, non-negotiable marker. In most every job, though, it's up to you to explain your experience, know what your peers are getting, and defend your salary requirements. In our guide to knowing what salary to ask for, we suggested search sites like Glassdoor.com, PayScale, Indeed, and others. If you've got to shoot from the hip, aim higher than what you think you'll get, or aim really high and allow yourself to get knocked down—but only if you don't absolutely need that job.
7. Lower your credit card interest rate with junk mail
Seriously, all those pre-approved, APY-filled envelopes have to be good for something, right? Trent at The Simple Dollar blog suggests compiling them as part of a step-by-step guide to reducing credit card interest. Along with scoping out the offers on your card issuer's site, you arm yourself with a variety of competing rates you could easily get, get into the right frame of mind, and then call and force your way onto the phone with someone who can actually change things. Trent's post details the battle preparation in detail.
6. Just ask
Jason isn't afraid to reduce his bills by simply asking, and you shouldn't be either. It's not force of will or elegant pricing analysis you need to start chipping away at your bills. You're speaking to someone who wears a headset all day and hears almost nothing but complaints, so it's all about making yourself look good and getting on their good side. Soft-spoken curiosity about pricing, a congenial conveyance of brand loyalty, and being willing to move off what you think you want—say, lower premiums for your new car—and onto something you hadn't considered—"good driver" discounts, or savings for taking a safety course—can work wonders.
5. Keep quiet to press your point
Most of us are conditioned to avoid uncomfortable silences in conversations—that's part of the reason they design elevators to get you to your floor wihout a need for conversing (seriously they really do). But when you're angling for a lower price, a better payment, or some actual customer service, keeping quiet can speak volumes. A strategic silence can force your counterpart into action. If things get heated, silence can also keep you calm while playing with the yeller's mind. Either way, you've just won the battle of temperaments, and you're on your way to winning whatever war you're in.
4. Don't pay sticker price for your gadgets
It's easy to think of electronics stores as automated, margin-fixed resellers of whatever SonyAppleMicroSamsuVox want you to pay for. But that's not the case—not even at Best Buy—as every retailer has to make quotas, and you can help them decide to make you part of thier equation. Start by using internet print-outs to back up your stance on lower prices. Know the features you want, and do some research on the "value-added" services most shops will try to tack on, as recommended by HD Guru. If you're really hungry for an item, so hungry you'd risk not being a salesman's BFF, you could use a little protection plan switcheroo—although many of our commenters find it a bit troubling, and might suggest a more straight-forward tactic of leveraging a protection plan against what you really want to pay.
3. Buy at the right time
Eighty percent of success, the comedian once said, was just showing up. Get deep into the last 20 percent by showing up at the right time. SmartMoney's multi-market guide suggests buying airline tickets on a Wednesday, around 21 days before a flight, hitting the mall for clothes on a Thursday night, six to eight weeks after a new fashion roll-out, and wedding dresses, believe it or not, between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our commenters have a few other suggestions on perfectly timed deals, too, well worth the scroll-down.
2. Walk into a car dealership with no fear
Rob Gruhl is the guy friends call from the dealership (literally) when they need buying advice. His presentation on car buying explains the basic and advanced jujitsu of bare-knuckled negotiating on your wheels. He says to give yourself plenty of time, get your own financing, never trade your old car into the dealer, get the "drive it off the lot" price rather than deal with a multitude of rebates and financing offers, and don't buy extras—not yet, anyways.
1. Write a letter to reduce your rent
Real estate prices are dropping, rents are going with them, and yet your landlord is hitting you up for an increased rate. You don't have to take that. The Wall Street Journal, in a feature on how to reduce your rent, prints a firm-but-not-smug form letter (which we reprinted in our post) that explains in detail why you deserve to stick to your current rate: You've been a good payer, you have a better credit history than the newer tenants next door (hopefully), and it would really stink if someone had to find a new tenant right now (said without any kind of Mafioso inflection). Why do all the passive-aggressive lifting when the WSJ and its rent-savvy writers have done it for you?
10. Start with the 15-to-20-percent rule
This one's for the shier, more nervous negotiators, the types who don't like to cause a big hassle to save some money—like, say, at least two of your Lifehacker editors. If you're unsure where to start knocking around prices, try starting with 15 to 20 percent less than your absolute top spending limit, as suggested by the Today show. It's basically marching up to the mark-up the seller is probably putting on the product you're trying to get, and moving incrementally down from there. Real simple, but you gotta start somewhere, right?
9. Ace your performance review, get a raise
Jump into that yearly chat blind, and you're likely to leave your supervisor thinking you're just a little better at FreeCell than he or she is. But if you've been quietly, easily building an accomplishments file, you've at least go something to talk about for more than five minutes. And if you know what they're looking for, your only job is to sell what you did, what you want to do, and how much it's worth to your company to do it for another year. Sounds simple? Unless you make it more complicated, it really is.
8. Know the salary you can really get
In a few rare cases, a salary is a stone-solid, non-negotiable marker. In most every job, though, it's up to you to explain your experience, know what your peers are getting, and defend your salary requirements. In our guide to knowing what salary to ask for, we suggested search sites like Glassdoor.com, PayScale, Indeed, and others. If you've got to shoot from the hip, aim higher than what you think you'll get, or aim really high and allow yourself to get knocked down—but only if you don't absolutely need that job.
7. Lower your credit card interest rate with junk mail
Seriously, all those pre-approved, APY-filled envelopes have to be good for something, right? Trent at The Simple Dollar blog suggests compiling them as part of a step-by-step guide to reducing credit card interest. Along with scoping out the offers on your card issuer's site, you arm yourself with a variety of competing rates you could easily get, get into the right frame of mind, and then call and force your way onto the phone with someone who can actually change things. Trent's post details the battle preparation in detail.
6. Just ask
Jason isn't afraid to reduce his bills by simply asking, and you shouldn't be either. It's not force of will or elegant pricing analysis you need to start chipping away at your bills. You're speaking to someone who wears a headset all day and hears almost nothing but complaints, so it's all about making yourself look good and getting on their good side. Soft-spoken curiosity about pricing, a congenial conveyance of brand loyalty, and being willing to move off what you think you want—say, lower premiums for your new car—and onto something you hadn't considered—"good driver" discounts, or savings for taking a safety course—can work wonders.
5. Keep quiet to press your point
Most of us are conditioned to avoid uncomfortable silences in conversations—that's part of the reason they design elevators to get you to your floor wihout a need for conversing (seriously they really do). But when you're angling for a lower price, a better payment, or some actual customer service, keeping quiet can speak volumes. A strategic silence can force your counterpart into action. If things get heated, silence can also keep you calm while playing with the yeller's mind. Either way, you've just won the battle of temperaments, and you're on your way to winning whatever war you're in.
4. Don't pay sticker price for your gadgets
It's easy to think of electronics stores as automated, margin-fixed resellers of whatever SonyAppleMicroSamsuVox want you to pay for. But that's not the case—not even at Best Buy—as every retailer has to make quotas, and you can help them decide to make you part of thier equation. Start by using internet print-outs to back up your stance on lower prices. Know the features you want, and do some research on the "value-added" services most shops will try to tack on, as recommended by HD Guru. If you're really hungry for an item, so hungry you'd risk not being a salesman's BFF, you could use a little protection plan switcheroo—although many of our commenters find it a bit troubling, and might suggest a more straight-forward tactic of leveraging a protection plan against what you really want to pay.
3. Buy at the right time
Eighty percent of success, the comedian once said, was just showing up. Get deep into the last 20 percent by showing up at the right time. SmartMoney's multi-market guide suggests buying airline tickets on a Wednesday, around 21 days before a flight, hitting the mall for clothes on a Thursday night, six to eight weeks after a new fashion roll-out, and wedding dresses, believe it or not, between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our commenters have a few other suggestions on perfectly timed deals, too, well worth the scroll-down.
2. Walk into a car dealership with no fear
Rob Gruhl is the guy friends call from the dealership (literally) when they need buying advice. His presentation on car buying explains the basic and advanced jujitsu of bare-knuckled negotiating on your wheels. He says to give yourself plenty of time, get your own financing, never trade your old car into the dealer, get the "drive it off the lot" price rather than deal with a multitude of rebates and financing offers, and don't buy extras—not yet, anyways.
1. Write a letter to reduce your rent
Real estate prices are dropping, rents are going with them, and yet your landlord is hitting you up for an increased rate. You don't have to take that. The Wall Street Journal, in a feature on how to reduce your rent, prints a firm-but-not-smug form letter (which we reprinted in our post) that explains in detail why you deserve to stick to your current rate: You've been a good payer, you have a better credit history than the newer tenants next door (hopefully), and it would really stink if someone had to find a new tenant right now (said without any kind of Mafioso inflection). Why do all the passive-aggressive lifting when the WSJ and its rent-savvy writers have done it for you?
