I'll start this off by saying I'm a confirmed haggler.
To my way of thinking the asking price is just the starting point for negotiations!
I won't haggle if the seller is very busy and I won't buy from a seller who won't haggle.
But I won't pay retail - period.
There are too many other venues to buy good coins at lower prices.
How about the rest of you? Hagglers or not?
I ask what his best price is if its where I want, I take it if I don't like his price I say no thanks and be on my merry way. I don't want to waste my time or his by trying to get something fifty cents cheaper
Happiness is 99 cents in change
LOL - my haggling ability gets me stuff a bit more than "fifty cents cheaper"!Originally Posted by KoinJester
I'm not gonna haggle over low priced items but once we start getting into the hundreds, you better believe I'm gonna haggle!
To my knowledge I've only scored one really good deal so far. In the process of trying to learn the actual value of the coins so my haggling is backed up by something.
Not too much of a haggler cg. I went to a show today, one dealer had a nice au 1819/8 CBH he wanted 375. He is a dealer I had not dealt with before, so I asked him his best price, he said 370. I thanked him and told him I might come back later ( I did not). I might have paid his price if the coin was a real nice one for the grade, it was nice but not real nice (imo).
I guess I am the type of person who figures when I ask someone what is their best price, they will actually tell me their best price. If the figure I have in mind is close to their best price I might float that figure out there. I was figuring 195 for the coin so it was far enough away that I did not even mention it.
The coin was a slabbed NGC one, it had numerous hits and dings, rather unattractive toning, I have seen au-58 coins that I would have paid that price for, but this was not one of them.
Let me ask you, if you see something like a brown 1909 vdb in a slab marked 64, and you figure you would pay 20 bucks for it, but when you ask the price the dealer says he wants 115, how do you close the gap by haggling?
E Pluribus FUN!
I am horrible at it. Never have gotten the knack. I have gotten to the point where I can ask for a best price at a show, and if I don't like it walk away. I don't know why, but have never been comfortable haggling. I am envious.
Chris
Assuming the coin in question is marked with a price AND I have a good idea of its value, I'll start off with the perennial "What's your best price?"
If his "best price" seems like a good deal, then no need to haggle.
Otherwise I may reply along the lines of "Well, that's a little bit more than I can afford for that coin. Can you come down to {insert reasonable figure I would LOVE to buy it for here}".
Sometimes I get the coin for that price.
Sometimes the seller names a price below his "best price" but above my offer.
If the price is right, I'll buy otherwise I will politely thank him for his time and move on.
I find haggling with online sellers to be even more profitable for me.
I always try to be polite and I don't, under any circumstances, denigrate the seller's wares.
My motto: If you don't ask, you don't get.
I have on both sides of the haggling. I was in retail sales for years. I can tell you that the best prices, I gave were to folks that were personable and I liked even though we were fighting a mini war.
Those years are barely a memory now, but I always haggle, and always remember to try to build that bond with the seller. It goes a long way. This is even true when haggling on-line. Try to compliment the dealers stock, or you heard good things about him. It's all part of the game.
Mike
Simply ask two questions
1) is this your best price and
2) if you want to counter offer say" I would offer XX dollars for the coin"
A trick I use is look at the coin then lay it down and say nothing. He who speaks first looses. Sometimes the dealer will come down substantially. Sometimes not. Yes I was a dealer once.
My experience at shows are limited but I haggle at one of the stores I go to. Whenever I feel his prices are a bit too much for me I always ask him for a better price. I usually get anywhere from a $20 to $50 discount from him.
If a dealer has his wares priced ludicrously high, it's usually a sign of an unrealistic seller, an idiot or a crook. In most cases what you will hear him tell you "Well, I've already got x amount of dollars in that coin!" with the amount being higher than what I know to be the retail value of the coin. There's really no getting to a meeting of the minds with those people, so I usually don't even try.
My specialty is Canadian coins and I'm fairly conversant with their market values and can proceed from that knowledge base.
My aim is to make a deal that both the seller and I can be happy with.
I negotiate everything. I don't always get the price to move, but I'll try. Even retail establishments where "haggling" isn't traditional behaviour.
Some things I've discovered you can negotiate that you might not expect were negotiable:
Gasoline (MUCH better chance if it's a local mom and pop shop, harder to find these days but still out there)
Hotel/Motel rates
Produce (even at Wal Mart, believe it or not)
Health Care (This one's WAY easier than you think. Least talked about secret in the industry is that hospitals will collect less than 25% of the bills they send to individuals...either for uninsured services, or co-pays/deductibles. Offer to pay these costs up front, and hospitals will often take as little as $0.30-$0.40 on the dollar)
========
It's also worth snooping around your local area, and FINDING places that might haggle to shop for nearly anything. For example:
If you have a workshop, look for pawn shops for great deals on tools.
Look for signs/ads for upcoming gun shows to haggle deals on ammo, gold/silver, and firearms.
ALWAYS drive back country roads when car shopping. Cars and trucks can be found for 20-30% less than a used car lot might ask, and private sale owners are much more willing to negotiate.
"We're going broke, we're mired in debt, we don't have as many scientists as we want or need, and jobs are going overseas. I assert that these are not isolated problems, that they are the collective consequence of the absence of ambition that consumes you when you stop having dreams." - Dr Neil deGrasse Tyson
Come chat with us.
That line always annoys the **** out of me.
I don't CARE what you have in the coin/car/airplane/whatever. What you spent on your stock/hobby/toy isn't really my concern. My concern is what you'll sell it for.
Whenever someone brings up what they've spent on something, they're playing on your perception that every transaction must be profitable for the seller. NOTHING could be further from the truth.
Sometimes, a "loss" is perfectly appropriate due to the depreciation of an item...say a car, for example. Sometimes it's because the market changed (very true amongst collectibles in a down economy) Sometimes the seller is incurring costs in storage, overhead, payroll, or other expenses by holding on to the item, and the "loss" of money is acceptable to get rid of these costs.
For me, "I've got more than that in it" is just an excuse to go on the offensive, and pick apart all the reasons the seller should accept my offer. Doesn't always work, but any time you can plant even a seed of doubt in the seller's head about whether (s)he'll get a better offer any time soon, you stand to win the negotiation.
"We're going broke, we're mired in debt, we don't have as many scientists as we want or need, and jobs are going overseas. I assert that these are not isolated problems, that they are the collective consequence of the absence of ambition that consumes you when you stop having dreams." - Dr Neil deGrasse Tyson
Come chat with us.
Wow, I never thought you could negotiate those things you mention, with Walmart, even?
I am not very good with haggling, but the dealer looks up his code figures what he has in it, etc.. He has a right to make a profit.
It depends on the coin, the price on the holder and the demeanor of the seller for me. Sometimes the price on the holder seems reasonable. If I'm targeting a slabbed coin that I've done my homework on and know what they sell for online, I base it on that.
I was just at a show today too. I tend to look at a coin closely and then I let the seller know I am "interested in it" and hand it to them. Without saying anything more, they usually take it, look at it, look it up and shoot a new price that is lower than what's on the holder without asking. Many times it's considerably lower. This is pretty common at most shows Ive been to.
When the well's dry, we know the worth of water.
- Benjamin Franklin
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