Ask
and You Shall Receive ... a Discount
By
Cynthia
E. Brodrick
Bankrate.com
Stop.
Don't just blindly
pull out your wallet and pay the asking price. You
could get a better deal on
just about anything you buy. You have the money -- you can be in control.
"Remember
on which
side of the table the power resides -- the side holding
the money," explains author
and money-saving expert Corey Sandler of Nantucket,
Mass. He adds, "There's hardly
anything you can buy that there isn't a better deal than the first price you see."In
his book Secrets
of the Savvy Consumer, Sandler gives three important pieces of advice:
Three
rules
His
first bit of wisdom: "Distinguish between a need and
a want.
You have to be willing to walk away from a bad deal
when it's just a want." In
other words you probably need a car, but you want
a Porsche. Unless
someone can sweeten the deal on that fancy sports car,
you shouldn't waste your
money.
Next,
Sandler recommends, "Learn to buy -- not to be
sold." He advises that you know a lot about the product
or service you are buying.
He even says, "It's surprisingly easy" to know more
than the salesperson nowadays.
When you have researched the product and its price,
you know when it's a good
deal and you know what extras you can ask for.
Finally,
Sandler
says you should always ask for a better deal. He adds,
"Sometimes you get your
face slapped, sometimes you get a better deal. As long
as you're reasonable, you
can usually find a better deal."
Does
it work? Check out these
examples:
Get more for the same
Sometimes
a store or business won't be willing to give you a
discount, but they may be willing
to give you something extra. So go ahead and ask for
more for the same price,
like the sister of Deborah Senecal of Huntington, Mass.
While
visiting California for her daughter's wedding, Senecal
was content to settle
for a small double room for her and three relatives.
But her sister wasn't afraid
to ask the right questions. Senecal explains, "My sister's
first words were, 'This
won't do. We need a bigger room.' She called the check-in
desk and requested an
upgrade. The price she was quoted was out of our budget,
but she didn't let that
bother her."
The
sister played the sympathy card. Senecal explains,
"She said to the desk clerk, 'It's really bad up here.
Four women in one room,
hair dryers and pantyhose flying everywhere. You've
got to help us out! We've
got the mother of the bride here!'" The four women
ended up in a mini-suite on
the corner of the building with huge windows for the
price of the regular room
-- and with free breakfast buffet tickets.
Get
a lot more
for a little more
The
next story illustrates two smart
shopping ploys. Call the source of the product or its
home office. And for only
a little more money, you can sometimes get a lot more
product. Laurie Clinton
of Virginia Beach, Va., discovered both of these truths
when she recently shopped
for a computer.
Doing
research at a local Gateway store,
Clinton found a $1,299 computer with an upgrade to
a 17-inch monitor for an extra
$215, but no printer included. She then called the
home office, reachable by a
1-800 number. She discovered she could get a much better
computer with 17-inch
monitor and
printer for only $300 more than the original bricks-and-mortar
store price.
But
she didn't stop there; she asked more questions.
"I asked about upgrading the printer, and the guy gave
me a $75 credit for the
one in the package. Then he told me about a rebate
from Hewlett-Packard for $50.
Along with all the neat stuff like the warranty and
tech support increased to
three years, a better-performing computer with DVD-ROM
[and 17-inch monitor and
printer] only cost me $100 more than the original package
I was looking at --
delivered right to my door." Clinton did have to pay
shipping and handling charges
as well, but she ended up with more stuff and a better
product than originally
planned.
Match the price
Perhaps
while researching the product, you find a terrific
price, but not on the brand
you prefer. Try asking the company you like to match
the price you like, as Palm
Harbor, Fla., resident Sandra Webber did.
Comparison
shopping on the Internet helped Webber find some good
deals on vacuum cleaners.
In fact, Webber found a cleaner at great price, but
not the brand she wanted.
She explains, "I asked the more 'reputable' company
to match the price ... and
they did! My Fantom Fury arrived four days later and
I couldn't have been more
pleased."
Sandler
agrees with Webber's technique. He says the
Internet can be an ally when negotiating with a local
store. I told him I'd recently
bought a baby car seat from a Web site, and saved $16
(even after shipping and
handling) over the store price. The drawback is that
I will be waiting until mid-July
for it to arrive. He says I should have taken the Web
price to a local store and
then I'd probably already have the car seat installed in my car.
"Go
to the local store and tell them, 'I saw an incredible
price on the Internet.
Will you match it?'" advises Sandler. He says stores
are wising up to the Internet
as competition, and even if the store won't make as
much money on the sale, at
least they won't lose you as a customer to the Web-based business.
Other
discounts to ask about Discount
for cash. Merchants
pay a percentage to credit card companies. And they
may be willing to pass some
of the savings on to you, if you save them that trouble
by offering to pay with
the green dough. Discount
for memberships.
Two well-known memberships that can save you money
are American Automobile Association
and American Association of Retired Persons. Also consider
any organization that
you are a member of -- such as, the PTA, a health club,
a college sorority/fraternity,
an alumni group, a professional group. And check for
discounts from organizations
everywhere. AAA offers deals on more than rental cars
and hotels; check for savings
on prescription drugs and amusement park tickets. An
AARP membership can save
you money on airline tickets, meals and flower deliveries. Discount
for loyalty. A business may be willing to negotiate
its prices if it is assured it will have your repeat
business. Sandler provides
this example: "Let's say you buy 100 pounds of birdseed
each month. Go to the
store manager and say, 'I will do that for the next
year if you'll give me a deal.'
Even if you're a new customer, you can say, 'I'm willing
to bring my business
here if you cut me a deal.' Sometimes they'll say no, but they're dinosaurs." Ask
for flexibility. I recently received a coupon from
a
major Internet book retailer, encouraging me to try
their new music and video
selections. But I'm not interested in any CDs or movies right now. I do
want another book. So, I e-mailed them, asking if I
could use this special deal
on books. And they wrote back and said sure. I just
saved $5 on a book I was going
to buy anyway -- just by asking!
Negotiate
everything
Don't
limit your asking to stores that sell products. Remember
you can negotiate almost anything -- from credit card rates to cell phone service.
Admittedly,
it can be a little nerve-wracking to ask for a discount.
The American culture
is not used to even this small bit of negotiating for
most products. Women especially
worry about offending the salesperson. Sandler advises,
"I don't want anyone to
be rude. Just ask yourself, are you looking for a deal or looking for a friend?"
Remember
all the clerk or manager can say is no. If you need
or really want the product,
then you might decide to go ahead and pay that asking
price. But you'll never
get any discount at all if you don't ask.
As
Sandler says,
"The bottom line is that the people who are willing
to ask for a better deal are
subsidized by those who aren't."Back
to Your Money: How to Get Customer Satisfaction |
