- This topic has 12 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 11 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
Hi guys,
Not sure if many people do this or whether you guys would even consider it ethical or not… personally I don’t see the harm. This is to discuss the small psychological advantages you can do to get an edge in finding a good deal. I’m a big time video game collector so most of what I’ve learnt, I learnt hunting for rare games and trying to get good deals to fill my collection. I want to share any tips or tricks that you guys may have and I’ll start off.
Don’t dress to impress
One habit I’ve always gotten into when I enter any type of deal is to dress daggy. I’ll wear an old pair of tracksuit pants and an old faded t shirt. I’ll also normally wear a shirt with a graffiti tag pattern (luckily thats my style anyway). I then will remove any items of jewellery, or any signs of affluence. Look like you can’t afford it.
You’d be surprised how your appearance can change the dynamics of bartering. When you look poor, people assume you don’t have the money. They won’t try to push you too high because they assume you can’t go that high and don’t want to lose the sale. On the flip side, I’ve had times where I’ve tried to make a deal while wearing classy clothing and jewellery. It really is surprising but normally when I’m well dressed and trying to deal (normally that’s when I go scavenging while out doing something else) people do try much harder to push their prices up.
Of course it isn’t fool proof…. it doesn’t work on everyone… but it is surprising just how much it can change things.
-
Be willing to walk from every sale
I don’t mean try and pretend that you don’t care about the items, I mean truly don’t care. Change the way you think about what you’re bartering for. People are instinctual and it’s a hard game to try and cover up the desperation of someone that truly wants something… Seller’s can sense it and they’ll use it to their advantage. On the opposite, they can tell when someone doesn’t care that much, and that’s when they’ll fight to make the sale.
I think about every deal like this “If I’m not getting the price I want, I walk. If they let me walk, I never would have gotten it at the price I wanted anyway.”
Lots of people will let you walk away… but just remember, they were never going to let you get that deal for the price that you wanted, you’re either going to end up wasting energy and time fighting a losing battle, or you’re going to pay more for the item than you intended because emotions started to come into play.
Now and then though, they won’t let you walk… and you’ll get that last minute offer to sell at the price you wanted. You’d be surprised how many times they’ll actually undercut your original offer out of fear of losing the sale. Just don’t regret the missed items…. move on… it was a lost cause, we’ve just gotta be willing to be honest with ourselves and remove the emotions. And for all the items you’ve lost, you’ve gained so much more by not wasting your time and energy and investing it into something productive instead.
-
Buy items without price tags, and a lot in one hit
I’m not sure how it is over in the states but over here most of the op shops (thrift stores) I go to can be pretty slack with their pricing. A lot of the time they’ll price 1/2 the items and leave the others unpriced, instead waiting for someone to ask for the price.
All of these unpriced items, are items that they’re trying to keep track of in their heads. If you rock up to the counter with 20-30 different items, all of them unpriced, and ask how much, most of the time they won’t take the time to individually research and inspect each item. They feel rushed coz you’re waiting to make a purchase and they won’t want to keep their customers waiting, so they’ll risk taking the hit on the price for the bulk amount. It isn’t about trying to get them to make a mistake, I’m never trying to trick anyone. They make a conscious decision at the time to accept a lower offer to increase speed. They’re sometimes willing to take less to increase the flow of traffic through the register and stop other customers waiting while they try to research and price 20+ items.
The amount of times I’ve asked them to wrap items for me after paying and then I get the “Oh I never realised this was this… aren’t you lucky!”
If you actually stop and ask per item though as you’re browsing…. expect the price to be higher as they actually take the time to think about it.
-
You’d be amazed at the level many chain thrift shops go to, such as Goodwill. Many of them use a UPC barcode system and every single item (yes, every single one) is individually researched, priced, and accounted for. They have entire teams of people whose sole job is to categorize and research prices. There is a member of this site that actually works for Goodwill at one of their online auction warehouses. I am not sure if that person is still active though.
Thrift chains have gotten very high tech in the states. It is somewhat worrisome, but I think eventually they’ll tick off their donating base to the point they don’t get as much stuff.
-
We get that with our bigger thrift stores too, we don’t have Goodwill but for us it’s Salvation Army, St Vincent De Paul, Save the Children etc. They all individually price and barcode everything for sure.
But the local church op shop that opens once a week every Wednesday when the volunteers are available, they’re the ones that seem to stop caring about being so meticulous. You gotta try and get away from the big chain stores and find the little indie ones.
All the same tips work for yard sales too 🙂 (or garage sales where I’m from)
-
I take it as a personal challenge to find a diamond in the rough in the higher priced stores sometimes. It always makes me feel like I “stuck it to the man” when I pass on the shoes they have priced at $25 and are worth $25 and get the $3 pair next to them that are worth $75. Hehe. Things like that are what make this business fun!
-
-
-
-
Use silence and put the onus on the other person. After they give you a price, wait a beat, then ask “is that the best you can do?” and then be silent until they answer. You’ll be surprised how hard it is to stay silent! Let them come back with a response and wait a bit longer, just watching. People hate silence, they rush to fill it. I’ve waited out 4 drops in price before replying to someone and could see them sweating. It’s almost cruel!
However, don’t try this on crusty old men. They have the 1,000 yard stare and grumpy silence down to a fine art. Also be careful of Asian mommas. They’ll fill the silence with lots of screeching! I love them, they get really worked up and browbeat you into such a terror you’ll pay them double just to get them to stop. Very effective technique! However, I’ve learned that silence works on them too, eventually. It just takes a lot longer, a thick skin, and the willingness to endure everyone in a 4-block vicinity coming to see what the ruckus is about. 😉
-
Very good tip and one that I underutilise myself, I’m one of those people that starts to yammer on when they get nervous, although I’m getting better at controlling it when I need to. Most people are so uncomfortable with silence to the point they’ll lose money to end the awkwardness, it’s true.
For those of you that struggle with this like me, one tip is to go hunting when you’re tired. I’ve had people give me good deals just because I’m sleepy and my brain can’t keep up. My lack of brain power gets read as hesitation and same effect happens. Just take someone with you so they can stop you from making bad decisions. If the dealer starts engaging with them just tell them to say “sorry it hasn’t really got anything to do with me isn’t my decision”
-
-
I like this thread. Simple but I picked up a catch phrase on a fly by night southern junker show. One woman would always have the seller give the price first, then say “would you consider $__?”. I thought that was a nice, non-threatening catch phrase. I also like “$ works for me” or “whats your best price.” Our local flea market is chock full of antique dealer types, but there are a couple of clean out guys. On the former I use the sweet approach, on the latter I either bundle or be ready to walk.
-
-
I accidently found this to work. You want Item A. You come up with Item B, but you really don’t want it. You don’t go near Item A. You ask the price on Item B. You immediately say no and have a look of “no way” without being rude. More of a shocked look. Then you look around, kind of avoiding Item A. Then you point to Item A looking vaguely interested. The first price that they give on Item B, is usually sizing you up as to how much you will pay. When they get let down by their first attempt, they usually become more reasonable with pricing.
I get the whole pile pricing. Yet many times there is only a couple of items that I want.
-
Karen, loved your idea. Then had a vision in my mind of a really bottom-level price on Item B and how the shocked look would be you trying to figure out how to get out of it. It made me laugh and I had to share! 😀
-
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.