I always thought that with electronic items the price is fixed, and it won't change at all. However, recently, I bought a new laptop from my local PC world, and after talking to the salesman, we managed to get a huge discount from the original price. I never even thought to bargain about electronics, but it was absolutely worth the extra fifteen minutes of talking in the end. Do you try and bargain when it comes to electronics, or do you just go with the normal retail price?
I haven't done that. I usually just pay the price asked. However, I guess maybe I should try to negotiate on electronics. I think I would have to be with someone((sales person) who has the power to negotiate. You would also have to make certain other customers weren't around, because they would do the same thing, and my guess is the store would not be happy with that.
Always - in fact not just when it comes to buying electronics but almost everything that is relatively costly - as apart from the fact that its common place to haggle over price for almost anything where I live - I'm a great believer in the " if you don't ask, you don't get " theory - especially as it more often than not pays off and even more so now that brick and mortar stores have fierce competition from their online counterparts. Obviously its not going work in a discount store - but its certainly worth asking for a discount in any other retail store - as even though they may not always give you a discount - they're generally willing to throw in something extra like some high end cables, a service deal or a small display item - in fact thats how I got a high end mouse that I'd been longing to get - but couldn't quite justify the expense of buying myself.
It costs nothing to ask. There are some devices [especially newer models] which they'll sell at fixed prices but for other devices you'll need to ask if they'll offer a better deal. The worst they can do, is say no. I've been to stores where if you tell them the product is too expensive they'll want to know how much you are willing to pay . . . If you don't know who to talk to, head straight to the customer service desk. They are always eager to help.
I love this thread, because it highlights that if people would just ask for what they want, the 'unthinkable' can more than likely happen. But most people have this fixed belief about what is possible, and so they operate within that box, and often end up paying full price. If you don't ask, you don't get
I think the main issue with most haggling, whether you're talking electronic devices or housewares or whatever, is the fact that first-time hagglers are talking to the wrong people. The average store clerk is not authorized to offer reduced prices on their stock because they just work at the store. You need to speak to the higher-ups before you're likely to get any sort of discount. I'd also say you're probably not going to get verbal discounts at big box places like Wal-Mart, the main exception being if they muck up with their tagging in the midst of a sale. I used to work there, and I saw a couple con their way into getting two TVs for the price of one because somebody had poorly defined the sales tags. They were terrible TVs, but it's still two-for-one.
Not really, honestly. I have no problem paying good money for things that I know will work for a long time, and I will use a lot. For example, I payed a decent amount of money for my laptop, no questions asked. As other users have said, it doesn't hurt to ask. I guess I'm not sure who I'd ask if I wanted to try and get a deal.
I try to watch what I pay bargain for on electronics. Occasionally, you'll find some amazing products for under $50 that will last you for a long time. Other times, however, that $20 pair of headphones you got will break on you in a few days. It's about the brand you get in the long run. Always check the reviews for the brands, and if they have bargain products that don't break on you, go for it.
Don't mistake me for a cheapskate but we buy computers and electronic gadgets when on sale. Our latest purchase is our microwave oven that was on 20% discount. Not much but we needed to replace the busted microwave. When we bought our tv last December, it was on 50% discount - 40 inch Samsung for $500 only.
I guess it depends on the store, but I don't really think that places like Best Buy or HH Greg can negotiate down their prices on stuff. Perhaps if it was a smaller independent store, the store owner may be willing to do so to some degree. Or if the store pays their sales associates on commission they may have some flexibility to do so, but I've never seen this happen at your chain department stores. Something else you should be cautious of is if you're getting a genuinely new product, and not something that has been returned and re-packaged. The salesperson might have just grabbed you a return item, which was going to be marked down anyway. I'm not saying that buying returned stuff is necessarily bad, but you could run into some problems with warranties and such - especially if the previous owner filled out the warranty card before returning it.
It's usually like that. The prices are fixed on most electronic items but I think you can get a discount if you go way on your way to get one. But you have to be careful though, some of them do give you discounts but the items they give are either refurbished or returned. I once had that incident when I bought a hard drive. The sales guy gave a $20 discount for the drive and when I went home and checked the drive it had signs of wear.
We have a few places here where bargaining is encouraged, and the sellers there sell everything from shoes to electronics, so when I'm there I try to get as low of a price as I can get, but if I were somewhere more formal then I'd probably not attempt it. I also find that bargaining with smaller stores is much easier for me to do, especially if I'm buying multiple items from them since I get more confidence to ask for less that way.
It really depends on where you shop. I have done some promotions in PC World and they are on commission, so they can offer discounts or throw in some Norton (as they get that really cheaply) for free and sell it that way. In other stores like Best Buy it probably isn't possible unless it was a display model where the manager can warrant a markdown. In general I wouldn't ask for a discount on electrical devices because I already know what is a good price. Some may say you can't return it or not have a warranty instead. All I can imagine is that if you got a discount at PC World it was already over priced (which they are) despite your negotiating techniques.
