My bargaining tactics

Greetings and welcome to my blog. It’s good to be here to partake in this exciting contest today.

Bargaining has come to be an integral part of our lives and everyday we take part in bargaining in one form or the other. Whether we like it or not, we must bargain daily as we buy and sell or as we engage in one form of activities or the other. Let’s talk bargaining.

What is bargaining in business?

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Bargaining has to with the process of negotiating the terms or condition on which a business transaction should take place. It’s all about reaching a compromise between two parties.

For example, I went to buy a cloth yesterday and the lady told me it 10,000 Naira, I told her it was too much and I priced 8,000. We kept going back and forth until we agreed at 8,500. That’s a bargain.

For bargain to be successful depending on the type of business, there are key things that must be in place.

1. Price: both parties must agree on the price of the goods or the service they are to transact on.
2. ⁠They must agree on some terms and conditions surrounding the transaction such as how to pay (cash or transfer), when the goods or services will be delivered (immediately or later) and etc.
3. ⁠They have to agree on the amount and quality of goods or services to be delivered.
   All of these and more in some cases make up a good bargain.

Are you a good bargainer? What tactics do normal use?

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Talk of being a good a bargainer or not, I’d rather say that I am average on bargaining. I do not think I am a very good bargainer but I try. Sometimes I feel I did a good job with my bargain and sometimes I feel cheated in the entire process.

I think my bargaining power hinges on my budget sometimes. Before I go to the market, I have a list and prices of what I’d like to buy. If the prices are way too high for me, I’d try to bargain more and see if I could bring them down else I may just bargain alittle if it suits my budget or go for a cheaper alternative If I want to cut cost enough.

One of my tactics would be to start with a pricing almost half the price of the goods and then increase gradually. Secondly, if the price is still pricey, I will have to price in other places and compare the prices and then go for the cheapest amongst all or go for a cheaper alternative.

Are you of the opinion that all goods should be under bargain or under a fixed price? Explain.

This is a dicey one really but the bargaining process can be a lot to grapple with and some business men and women do not even make it easy for people to have a good bargain. Some talk and weary you out.

For me, I prefer that prices of goods be fixed just like we see in supermarkets. It makes shopping very easy. The reason I said the prices to be fixed is that over time. I find out that some of these fixed prices are almost the same in the market and even cheaper.

In a case where the fixed price is above my budget, I have other alternatives at my beck and call to still make choices from and I have even noticed that the uncommon brands are just as good as the popular and expensive brands. Having to shop with fixed prices helps me make my choices easily as opposed to spending time in bargaining.

That was how the lady I bought the cloth from at 8500 Naira was telling me that she bought it for 9500 and it’s using 500 Naira to sell to me. That’s crazy. So I finally bought it at 8500 after so much back and forth. Does that mean that she sold it at a loss? No. Some of them tell alot of lies just to make you pay more. Simply put the price there, if it’s good for me, I will buy or simply walk away and safe myself from the stress of bargaining.

Have you fallen victim of buying things higher due to not knowing how to bargain?

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Yes and I think this has happened over and over again. Sometimes, I leave the bargain scene feeling sorry for myself. Especially when I go to another place and get that stuff cheaper than I had bought it. Like I said earlier, I am an average bargainer and I also do not like to spend so much time bargaining.

One day I went to buy some food items. I had finish buying all the items I wanted and then decided to just casually price it in another place, it was a rude shock to me that I had bought them way higher than the prices. Sometimes this could be because I bought from a retailer as against buying from a whole seller. Hence I always look out for bulk sellers to get cheaper prices in situations where I have to bargain.

Bargaining power is a good skill everyone should have as it helps to save cost during purchase. Someone who is a good bargainer would cut cost and save more than someone who doesn’t know how to bargain at all. So we all should try and work on our bargaining skills.