Archive for the ‘purchases’ Category
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 |
Retail prices are a lot more negotiable than you might think. But before you go out and try to play hardball to get a discount, learn the rules of the game.
This is a very long read but well worth it By Katherine Reynolds Lewis at MSN
You see an item you want in your local big-box store. The price seems too high. You ask for a discount — and you get it!
This scenario may seem far-fetched, but expert negotiators say it occurs every day in retail outlets across the U.S. With consumers restricting their spending, store owners need every sale they can close, even if it means accepting a smaller profit.
“Retailers, particularly a number of the high-end retailers, are in real trouble given the current recession, and they’re willing to bargain,” said Joel C. Huber, a marketing professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
That’s not to say it’s easy to win unadvertised discounts. The art of the haggle is an intricate dance, and you must know the steps before you venture onto the dance floor.
And you have to be willing to ask.
“The thing people don’t understand about the retail industry, especially brick-and-mortar stores, is that prices aren’t fixed,” said Albert Ko, a co-founder of bargain-hunting site CheapCheapCheap.com. “With the economy, it’s all about the numbers and getting goods sold. . . . They’re willing to listen and work with you.”
Really, you have to ask
Americans are notoriously uncomfortable negotiating bargains, said Julie Parrish, the chief executive of Hot Coupon World.
“My dad’s from the Middle East, and they haggle for everything. You grow up knowing how to ask,” Parrish said. “People are scared. They view it as a confrontation, and it’s not. You’re simply asking. There is so much leverage in pricing other than the price of a gallon of gas.”
You may think you can’t negotiate with a mainstream retailer with fixed prices. But even discounters such as Kmart give their stores the leeway to cut a deal if you give them a good reason. That can be as simple as pointing out a scratch or flaw, or bringing in a flier advertising a lower price at a competitor.
Lila Delilah, the founder of Madison Avenue Spy, has found that boutiques offer discounts upon a hint. She was looking at a children’s coat that was 30% off and remarked that she saw it for 50% off the previous season. The owner immediately offered an additional break.
“I have a friend that’s been walking into every boutique she goes into and asking for the ‘recession price.’ Amazingly, she’s getting 25% to 30% off just by asking for it,” Delilah said.
When should you ask?
When you’re buying a lot. At Costco, Parrish saw a man taking dozens of packages of baby back ribs out of the display to put in his cart. The manager stopped him and asked how many he wanted. The man ended up buying six cases of ribs at a 10% discount.
Indeed, volume discounts are a key way to save in this economy. If a department manager can move a lot of inventory, he’ll be flexible on price.
“They’re happy to do it because they get bonuses tied to volume by department,” Parrish said.
When the product is on its way out. Stores also like to get rid of all units of a clearance item so the display can be used for another product. Using this knowledge at Walgreen’s, Parrish’s business partner got about 50 Burt’s Bees lip gloss tubes for 50 cents each, down from the clearance price of $1.59 and regular price of $3.99.
Consider the meat department of your local grocery store just before closing time. The manager might prefer to sell the entire display of ground beef and go home, rather than spend 45 minutes wrapping and storing the meat. If you can freeze the beef, either as patties or cooked taco meat, you can end up saving more than $1 per pound.
When you’re dropping a small fortune. At high-end department stores, if you spend more than $15,000 or $20,000 in a single visit, you can usually get 20% off the entire purchase, Delilah said.
“Stores that sell Christian Louboutin shoes, you can say, ‘These are very expensive. Is there any way you could give me something off?’” Delilah said. “In this economy, everybody’s looking to crack a deal. If you’re ’spending bank,’ there’s going to be more flexibility.”
When you pay cash. Because merchants can’t legally charge extra for credit card payments, the cost of the associated fees is built into every transaction. But they can offer a discount for cash. Ask.
First, do your homework
The seller is unlikely to accept a deal that leaves no profit. So before you enter the store, check out comparable items online or in the store’s competitors. That will give you the range of prices.
Make sure you understand which items have a larger profit margin and which have a shorter shelf life, such as perishables, seasonal clothes and consumer electronics that become outdated. You’ll have better luck negotiating if the manager wants to clear the inventory out of the store, said Jim Crawford, the executive director of the Global Retail Executive Council.
At a Best Buy recently, Ko’s father wanted to buy a 42-inch LCD television. When they first spoke to the manager, he said he couldn’t give a discount. Ko then said he had seen the TV for less on the Internet but wanted to buy it in person and suggested a package deal.
They ended up getting $200 off the television, bringing it under the Internet price, by purchasing a warranty and accessories, both big-margin items.
Jewelry has one of the highest markups of any product category, said Kit Yarrow, a psychology and marketing professor at Golden Gate University.
“Even at mall jewelry stores you can negotiate,” Yarrow said. “I don’t think I’ve ever in my life purchased jewelry without getting a discount.”
Stick to your guns, but be flexible when you can
Before you get carried away with the power of haggling, an important note: You must keep your key criteria in mind when you’re negotiating and be willing to walk away if they’re not met.
The most important parameter is your top price. If you are bargaining and it becomes clear the seller can’t do better than your top price, thank him for his time and leave.
Also, be willing to give on features or criteria that don’t really matter to you.
For instance, Parrish wanted a new minivan that had sliding doors but didn’t care about the color or model. She walked into the dealer saying, “These are the must-have features, and this is the price I want to pay.”
Even if a retailer won’t cut the price, it might throw in some extras for free. If you’re making a major purchase, ask for complimentary delivery or installation. For clothes, suggest free alterations or cleaning and pressing.
Parrish recently walked into a Lowe’s store looking for a front-loading washer-dryer set. She didn’t care about the brand and noticed a Maytag floor model with a scratch on the dryer and only one display pedestal, for the washer. She asked to speak to the manager and negotiated a discount based on the scratch and it being a display model. Then she asked what they were going to do with the pedestal.
“Is somebody going to buy that sitting by itself?” she asked, mentioning that she’s a mom with three kids and couldn’t bring the set home in her vehicle. The manager threw in the pedestal and delivery as well. The entire transaction could’ve cost $2,100 but ended up being $1,100.
Haggling rules to live by
Make it personal. Try walking into a store with the best attitude possible. Be friendly, respectful and interested in developing a relationship with the sales staff. (See “Know thy enemy: Understanding the salesperson’s tactics.”)
“Introduce yourself with your name and a handshake so you take away the anonymity,” Parrish said. “Now I’m working with Bob the sales guy, and he’s working with Julie customer. You make it personal.”
Talk to the manager. As sugary sweet as you can be to the frontline sales clerk, you’ll never get a worthwhile discount. He simply doesn’t have the authority to offer one.
You have to speak with the manager, the person who has the power to negotiate. But when you ask, be nice, and offer to help that clerk who’s now your first-name buddy.
“You say, ‘John, I’m looking at this television,’ and I have a question about the pricing,” Ko said. After a friendly conversation, say: “You’ve been very good to me. I’d like to help you. Where’s your manager? Let me throw in a good word for you.”
Keep your word. Your career as a negotiator will be short-lived unless you follow the haggling protocols. If you tell a frontline clerk you’re going to put a good word in with her manager, do so.
“Always follow through; don’t say it and not do it. Execute on it and respectfully do what you say,” Ko said.
Don’t make them regret it. The last thing the retailer wants is to have 50 of your friends walk in and ask for the same deal. Stores don’t want it known that they will cut special deals. Few were even willing to talk for this story.
In an e-mail, Lowe’s spokeswoman Abby Buford said, “Managers do have the discretion to adjust prices if necessary to be competitive in the market.”
Costco generally offers volume discounts only when customers buy a product by the truckload, Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said in an interview.
“We sell at incredibly low prices every day,” Galanti said. “When someone wants a discount beyond that, it’s going to be at the discretion of the department manager. We don’t encourage or discourage it.”
8 phrases that win discounts
* Use “if . . . then” statements. For instance: “If I buy two of these Tiffany necklaces, then can you give me 25% off?” Or: “If I buy the entire rack of ground beef, then what’s the best price you can give me?”
* Begin by saying what you do like about the store, service or product. It establishes you as a loyal customer and a decent human being.
* To begin negotiations, say, “I’d like to pay X” or “My budget is Y.”
* Give them a reason to say yes, whether it’s a scratch on an appliance or a model from last year.
* When the seller turns down your offer, ask, “Is there a price you’d accept?”
* “I want to stay a loyal customer. But I’ll tell you the truth — it is tough to pay the bills.”
* “I’m not happy with the price I’m paying for this service.”
* “What’s the ‘recession price’ for this coat?”
Posted in Informational, Inspirational, purchases | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 |
I’m constantly baffled by people that are the front man for credit card purchases.
You know the types… the people that have a credit card that fronts the purchase for someone without a credit card and will be reimbursed with cash?
For instance, I know someone (Person A) that bought plane tickets for someone (Person B) because they didn’t have a credit card. The Person B gave them the cash immediately, but instead of paying the credit card down the Person A will spend it elsewhere and continue paying on the payments.
It’s literally throwing money away. Lets say, the plane tickets cost $400. With interest and the continuouse minimum payments building up on the credit card, Person A might as well pay Person B $150 so they can front the $400 plane ticket purchase the non credit card user.
And that’s a low estimate since credit card interest rates are higher than normal. And considering that it could take YEARS to pay down a credit card on minimal payments, they could end up paying double.
It doesn’t add up nor make sense. You’d be better telling the person NO or telling them you don’t have a credit card if all you’re going to do is burying yourself deeper and DEEPER in debt.
Posted in Informational, purchases, relapses | No Comments »
Friday, May 8th, 2009 |
This is one of those days where I just start writing and write until stuff comes to mind. Having said that, I have no responsibility of what may be said and the order they’re presented.
I guess you can call it my “hmmmm” moment in RDL.
For starters, I’m currently wondering when will the tattooing thing going to take off like I want it to? I’ve been handing out business cards to at the oddest of places. Fast food drive thru attendants that have tattoos. Waitress’s that have tattoos. I’ve even posted my portfolio on a couple of message boards. I’ve since tattooed on one customer from a message board and none by manually handing out my cards. For some odd reason, I’m getting customers out of the blue through word of mouth though.
Another thing that’s been on my mind is my income and outcome. For some reason, I have money even though I feel like I’m broke as hell. I’ve been spending a lot lately and it doesn’t seem to be catching up with me. Hopefully it’s all in my head.
Seems like I’ve inherited my middle daughter’s softball team. The head coach officially asked me when did I want to practice in front of the other parents. Kind of caught me off guard as I rambled while trying to think of the audacity. We all finally agreed on Saturday morning (tomorrow).
I’m at a cross roads with the wife and her job situation. It’s nice having her home taking care of the home but at the same time, it’d be nice to have another source of income coming in. To top it off, (not saying it’ll happen) I was reading about this guy that had a stay at home wife and as soon as the kids left, she got bored and wanted a divorce. A divorce I could handle (not want to but could deal with it), but she get’s half of his everything all because she was a stay at home mom. Oh well, I guess you can’t live thinking of the possibilities, or can you?
Now I’m left with wondering how much spending money I should take on the October cruise we’re going on? I did my first betting goal on my first cruise (bet $100) on one blackjack hand. Now I want to accomplish my next goal of placing $500 on one blackjack hand. By the way, I lost the $100 bet. Not only will there be gambling, we’re going to South beach the day before the cruise for a day of partying. I’m thinking $1000 should be enough for the entire trip.
We seem to be looking at some more money come in soon. My wife is getting a small settlement (under $5k) from when she got in a car accident last year. It’ll basically be money we spent on her medical expenses being reimbursed plus some small additions of pain and suffering of her sphincter or whatever.
I’m also wondering when will this egg sized hematoma inside my scrotem from vasectomy complications go away? The doctor says it may be a couple of months and it feels like it’s shrinking a little bit but I’m skeptical of doing anything active because I know it’s there. It’d be nice to play some softball or flag football (might even give it a shot at quarterbacking tomorrow)
Another thought is… when will the market be up to near it’s all time peak again? We’d tend to make a lot of money if that was the case since we currently have about $40k in the market at the moment. This weeks gain was nice but somewhere near it’s all time high would be GREAT!
There you have it… those are my most current random thoughts I decided to write about. What are some of yours?
Posted in Informational, Personal debt, goals, purchases, success | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 |
In light of our strained economy, how can you keep your love life intact and still scale back on spending?
Remember that money isn’t everything. The most important thing is that you’re together.
Whether playing the field or in a couple, there are a number of free (or cheap) ways to mind your wallet without sacrificing your dating life. After all, a recession won’t keep you from finding love, it’ll just make you more creative!
For those playing the field
1. Dinner and a movie DIY-style: Instead of going to a restaurant and theater, grab a Netflix and cook your date dinner.
2. Have a picnic: Grab a picnic basket with some home-made goodies, a comfy blanket and spend a romantic day in the park.
3. Free wine-tasting: Most wine shops feature free promotional wine-tasting events, a perfect (and educational) date!
4. Your own personal sunset: Take a stroll and let the sunset be the destination for your date — pretty and, more importantly, free!
5. Get sporty!: How about getting a little down and dirty with your date? No, not that way — participate in a local or city-wide recreational sporting event: how about a game of ultimate Frisbee or touch football?
6. Free culture: Most art galleries and/or museums that normally charge entry fees, usually have at least one “free night” a week — take advantage!
For couples
1. Lather up!: Light a few candles, maybe turn on your favorite music and take a romantic bubble bath together.
2. Eat in, but make it fun: Instead of spending cash on eating out, cook at home together — try new recipes and new foods — for cheap!
3. See the sites: No matter what city, most residents rarely do the typical “tourist activities.” Why not take the opportunity to do some local site-seeing —- most tourist attractions are relatively cheap and monuments or scenic sites are usually free (and only cost a guidebook!)
4. Volunteer together: Nothing’s sexier than doing good.
5. Take in some flea market finds: Peruse local flea markets/garage sales with your significant other — if you do buy something you know it will be cheap and even if you don’t, flea markets are always a fun excursion.
6. Start a photo blog: Why not create something with your partner? Spend some time out and about taking photos. You can even start a photo blog that your friends and family can follow and you can update together. It’s free and you’ll always have something cool to look back on!
And remember that money isn’t everything. The most important thing is that you’re together and you’re having a good time. If your date doesn’t appreciate spending time with you without spending a lot of cash, then you probably shouldn’t be with her/him.
Regardless of your funds, each of these ideas can be an exciting change of pace. You may be feeling financial strain — but you don’t have to feel it alone!
Posted in Informational, purchases | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 |
My (pre-lump sum) financial goal for 2008 was to have $13K in our savings account. Just so happens, we currently have $15.7K in our savings account. And that’s post lump sum.
HOW (you might ask)?
Well it’s not all bad. I’ve been positioning myself and my family to be more prosperous for the future (starting in ‘09). Basically I’ve invested in myself and the market. As I’ve once hinted on, I’m planning on becoming a tattoo artist and I’ve invested approximately $10K in that which will give me a lifelong trade and a chance to make some really good $ down the line.
Besides that, I’ve thrown $20K in this down market with all of this turmoil surrounding us. I dind’t buy in at the bottom but I’m comfortable where I bought in. Because of our blessing, so far we’ve given away $3.5K ($500 left to give) to various friends and family in need. We also had to pay $2000 to our health insurance plan. To top it all off we went to Miami for Christmas which set us back about $3500.
So all in all, we have a comfortable 6+ months emergency stash saved up even while my wife & I losing our jobs at different times during the year.
Because of our investments I believe ‘09 will be a much better year despite all the negative things that are happening around us. I haven’t decided what our ‘09 financial goals will be because everything is so much up in the air right now. I have to be honest, I hate instability and now is a really unstable time for us.
My wife’s pregnant and jobless (laid off). I don’t mind it as I expect her to continue to be unemployed because I refuse to believe someone will hire a pregnant lady to do a white collar job. So I have to make things happen for us which I started working on around the time I thought I may be getting the pink slip from Sprint (which I eventually got).
I’ll let you in on more when i know more.
Roger.
Posted in Generate income, Informational, Personal debt, goals, purchases | 4 Comments »
Friday, November 7th, 2008 |
Jesse Jackson, Colin Powell, my mother and countless others around the world had the same sense of accomplishment, pride and overall acceptance at 10pm CST once it was official that Barrack Obama was named the 44th president of the United States.
Obamas victory was a victory for America. Not because of the majority vote but because of it’s significance. His winning the election signifies the country is moving well past the hate filled days of slavery, white pride and power. It instead lays the foundation for us to stick together and to know that we can and will prevail in the face of adversity.
My only regret of it all is that my grandfather didn’t make it 3 extra months in order to celebrate in the moment. I can imagine him now, tearing up and snotting with his tissue in hand while showing admiration for something he thought he’d never see in his lifetime.
America, we have a chance to do something special here. Barack preaches personal responsibility for all. Some think he’s their savior for their financial woes while forgetting that it was their bad spending and debt habits that got them there in the first place.
THAT’S RIGHT! It’s time for YOU and ME to become personally responsible for our actions. By doing so, first we must educate ourselves. We must know that prime mortgages are a precursor to failure. We must know that, “keeping up with the Jones” will have us as stressed as them.
So before looking for a handout with foreclosure help or jobless claim help, think about what got you there in the first place. It wasn’t Obama, IT WAS YOU!
Prime lending? You have to educate yourself instead of getting caught in the NOW moment.
Jobless? (again) You have to educate yourself instead of looking for someone to magically pick you out of a lineup in order to secure employment.
Of course there’s circumstances that go beyond this article where things aren’t so pronounced but then again, maybe they are. Maybe if we’d take personal responsibility those unpronounced things may not happen to us also.
Posted in Inspirational, education, goals, purchases | 1 Comment »
Saturday, November 1st, 2008 |
I’ve Been away for a while and I apologize. I’ve been swamped with different projects and things. I’ve been paying really close attention to the market lately because of it’s downward spiral. It’s actually a good thing it’s like this.
Think of it this way… There’s a big sale at the moment. Instead of commodities such as clothes and other goods… It’s stocks and mutual funds.
To put things into perspective… I’ve lost 40+% from my 401k & IRA as well as other investment options. It’s horrible news for the short term but GREAT news for the long run. Not only am I will I get that 40% back down the road but with the prices I’m currently buying in at I’ll be gaining 40% on those purchases.
I’ve taken out $25000 recently and $20000 of it is going on long term investing. I’ve been really paying attention to the ticker (OIL). It’s currently REALLY low and bound to rebound once the summer rolls around for you short term investor’s.
Also at this time the ticker (FNARX) is a mutual fund I use in my Roth IRA investments and it’s bound to make a huge comeback long term as the world grows more dependent on natural resources.
Of course, I’m not a professional and you should always seek the help of one when thinking about investing. At the same time, I’m just informing you of what I’m going to jump in really soon.
I’ll keep you posted. I think I’m going to jump in on another one of these days when the market takes a huge dive Hopefully really soon. I have to admit it’s scary timing the market but considering we’re in our lower 30’s we have a lot of time to play around.
Til next time…
Posted in Generate income, education, purchases | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 |
Next time you see that ‘player of the year’ flawsin’ in that 2005
Chrysler 300 sittin’ on 23’s while he’s pulling it into a parking stall
of a rented apartment hand him this article.
USA Today article on Black Spending Habits:
These are tough economic times, especially for African-Americans, for
whom the unemployment rate is more than 10%. Alarmingly, rather than
belt-tightening, the response has been to spend more. In many poor
neighborhoods, one is likely to notice satellite dishes and expensive
new cars.
According to Target Market, a company that tracks black consumer
spending, blacks spends a significant amount of their income on
depreciable products.
In 2002, the year the economy nose-dived; we spent $22.9 billion
($22,900,000,000.00) on clothes, $3.2 billion ($3,000,000,000.00) on
electronics and $11.6 billion ($11,000,000,000.00) on furniture to put
into homes that, in many cases, were rented.
Among our favorite purchases are cars and liquor. Blacks make up only
12% of the U.S. population yet account for 30% of the country’s Scotch
consumption. Detroit , which is 80% black, is the world’s No. 1 market
for Cognac (Pass The Co———).
So impressed was Lincoln with the $46.7 billion ($46,000,000,000) that
blacks spent on cars that the automaker commissioned Sean ‘P Diddy’
Combs, the entertainment and fashion mogul, to design a limited-edition
Navigator complete with six plasma screens, three DVD players and a Sony
PlayStation2.
The only area where blacks seem to be cutting back on spending is books;
total purchases have gone from a high of $356 million in 2000 to $303
mill! ion in 2002. This short-sighted behavior, motivated by a desire
for instant gratification and social acceptance, comes at the expense of
our future.
The National Urban League’s ‘State of Black America 2004′ report found
that fewer than 50% of black families owned their homes compared with
more than 70% of whites.
According to published reports, the Ariel Mutual Funds/Charles Schwab
2003 Black Investor Survey found that when comparing households where
blacks and whites had roughly the same household incomes, whites saved
nearly 20% more each month for retirement, and 30% of African-Americans
earning $100,000 a year had less than $5,000 in retirement savings.
While 79% of whites invest in the stock market, only 61% of
African-Americans do. Certainly, higher rates of unemployment, income
disparity and credit discrimination are financial impediments to the
economic vitality of blacks, but so are our consumer tastes.
By finding the courage to change our spending habits, we might be
surprised at how far the $631! billion($631,000,000,000.00) we now earn
might take us.
We all send thousands of jokes through e-mail without a second thought,
but when it comes to sending messages regarding life-affirming choices,
people think twice about sharing. So please pass this on.
Knowledge is POWER! Reverse the trend.
Posted in Informational, Inspirational, purchases, relapses | 1 Comment »
