That’s a quote from the bible so it has some authority behind it. All you have to do is ask, and you’ll be surprised at what you will receive. This works in many aspects of life. I’ll focus on the saving money aspect of life because this is a personal finance blog and I followed those words recently to save some money.
Don’t be afraid
Why don’t more people ask for a discount? You should ask for a discount on everything you buy. I’ll admit I’m not quite there since I don’t ask for a discount at McDonald’s. But the point is that when you’re in a store looking to buy an item of value, you should ask “Can I get a discount on this?”
They want you to buy from them and if it takes a discount, they will give it to you. The worst they will say is no. I know it’s easy to say that’s the worst that can happen, but to actually believe that’s the worse that can happen when it comes time to ask is another thing. I’ll just give you this one piece of advice: Just do it! Don’t think about, just ask before you can talk yourself out of it.
Competition
Like I said before, they want you to buy from them. They don’t want to lose you to a competitor. Use that to your advantage.
Beth (My girlfriend, I’ll have to stop identifying her one day) saved some money recently buy doing this. She called one company and asked them their price and asked what the price included and if they price match. Then she called a competitor and found out the same info from them and had a cheaper price. After that, she called the original place and told them the competitors pricing. She ended up saving $100 and got free installation and rotation.
Use the free market for what it’s there for, to get a low price.
Knowledge
I will beat this fact to death, Knowledge is power. If you know how much a certain product goes for in the open market, you can use that to your advantage. When buying a car you can figure out how much a car goes for and use that knowledge to get a dealership to lower the price of a vehicle. Knowledge can also help you cut through the BS of a salesman. Don’t get taken for a ride just because you don’t know about what you want to buy.
I’ll leave you with this, to show you that it never hurts to ask.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Personally, I hate negotiating because I suck at it. If I ask something for a lower price and they say NO, I just say OK and end up paying original price. Some people do have a knack for it though and I wish I possessed that skill. Maybe I ought to read a book on how to negotiate better.
I know what you mean. Over at car negotian coach there’s a post recommending a book on negotiating. I plan on reading it. You might want to check it out http://blog.findthebestcarprice.com/general/power-negotiating/
ALWAYS ask–it can’t hurt. In this economy a lot of companies are trying harder at their customer relations. And the more often you ask, the easier it gets, so that’s an added bonus. I’ve received refunds for items that were not completely satisfactory with no trouble at all recently, whereas I might have been told no-go before.
Meg´s last blog ..Balancing Points
Very true, the economy makes it a lot more likely for you to get what you ask for. And practice does make perfect. Thanks for commenting.
Definitely good to ask for a discount. It doesn’t hurt one bit!
Samurai´s last blog ..The Katana- Switching Gears For The Summer
Hey Kevin,
Great post! I think the atmosphere of confrontation and the fear of rejection dissuade a lot of people from negotiating. Ironically, the U.S. is one of the few countries in the world where negotiating on price isn’t widely accepted and expected.
The funny thing is that when we’re the ones buying something, that means we’re the ones with the power to walk away. We can vote with our dollar, and if a company is charging too much or not willing to budge on pricing, we can vote against them by taking our money elsewhere. I’ve found that more often than not, when I ask for a discount I get it.
Derek Sisterhen | Past Due Radio´s last blog ..113 Past Due – When Home Ownership Owns You
Yea, I’m sure businesses have a fear of losing you so they will most likely give you what you want as long as it doesn’t break their bank.
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