About a year ago, my fiancé and I were newly moved into our first house and were on the hunt for a new couch. We applied a very organized approach to our hunt and scoured every furniture store within driving distance in search of maximum comfort at minimum price. Everywhere we went it seemed like we were finding the same exact types of couches, none of which seemed particularly appealing to us. After a few weeks of searching, we suddenly came across exactly what we’d been looking for: a Klaussner sectional! The moment we sat down on it in the Value City Furniture showroom we knew we had found “the one”; it was like falling in love, but with a much steeper price tag. As it so happened, the day we found our magical couch happened to be a day before Memorial Day weekend. The store was filled with “SALE” signs and the price tag for this couch indicated that it had been marked down an extra $400 from its original discounted price (50% list price…that part I never pay much attention to, since it seems like everything is at least 50% off of list price).
It seemed like a decent price, but it was still a bit steep compared to the other models we’d been looking at. We talked it over privately and decided that this was definitely the couch for us. But being the frugal consumer that I am, I insisted that I write down the model info and research it online before we bought it at this store. My fiancé agreed and we left the store without purchasing anything. After a few days of intense research, it appeared that Value City really did have the best price for this couch. There were some Internet sites that had it for sale, but at a higher cost and without the free shipping. Even if they had it at the same price, I typically prefer to shop at brick & mortar stores whenever I’m making such a big and expensive purchase (it’s always nice to have a store that you can walk back into and see the manager face-to-face if there are any issues).Finally, after much agonizing and useless pacing, I decided to pull the trigger. My fiancé knew me too well to accompany me on the trip to the store…she knew that I was planning to do some bargaining, and when that happens, she prefers to be somewhere else.
On the way to Value City, I had a momentary hesitation and decided to pay a visit to Jennifer Convertibles. I had remembered reading that Jennifer was a Klaussner dealer, so I figured I’d take one more glance at the competition. Sure enough, Jennifer was selling the same couch in their catalog…but for hundreds of dollars more and without the free delivery! I mentioned to the sales manager the price I had seen at Value City…he told me, “If you can get that price for this couch, go sign right now!” I was taken aback by his refreshing candor…it had reassured me that my decision to buy it at Value City was not a foolish one.
So off I went back to the store. I went over to the Klaussner couch and was quickly approached by a saleswoman. I told her that I was interested in purchasing this couch, but the price was a little higher than my budget. Now some might find this bargaining process to be somewhat dishonest; I personally don’t take that view. My goal is to get this couch for the lowest price that the store is willing to accept for it; if one “story” is more likely to make that happen than another, it’s all part of a legitimate capitalistic negotiation. After all, if the lowest price they’re willing to sell it for is already on the sticker, it shouldn’t matter what story I tell them. I should also point out that I made sure to wear my college t-shirt to the store that day, as a way of illustrating that I was working “on a budget”. In reality, I was willing to pay the price on the sticker for this couch; but why not give bargaining a shot?
The saleswoman said that it was already very discounted and that this was the lowest price she could sell it for. I asked if I could speak to a manager about it, and she was very courteous and got one in a few minutes. The manager repeated the same line; this is when I switched to my second tactic. “Look,” I said to him, “I’d really like to buy this couch but it’s just a little higher than I’m looking to spend. If you could go even a little bit lower, I’d buy it right now.” My hope was that he would see that I was prepared to make the purchase there and then and that would force his hand on the truly lowest price he could sell it for. He still hesitated and proceeded to tell me about their interest-free financing. I quickly stopped him and said I wasn’t really interested in the financing…and then used my third and final tactic, “I’ll buy it on a credit card right now, payment in full, if you can knock it down by even $100!” The manager paused for a moment and thought about it…and then replied, “Okay, $100 off if you pay in full right now.” I got my credit card out and headed to the register with the saleswoman.
I walked away from this experience having learned a few things. First of all, never be afraid to jump on a good deal. Sometimes, I second-guess myself and worry that I’m overpaying and that I should hold out for a bigger sale. But this has often resulted in my actually missing out on the best price.
Secondly, it never hurts to haggle. Many people find it unpleasant to bargain for major purchases, but when it comes to furniture, vehicles, or other high-value items, the sticker price is very often quite negotiable. It’s important to remember that you’re not trying to rip anybody off; the store is in business to make money, and if the salesperson thinks they can get your business with a lower price, they’d rather make the sale at that price than not make it at all. But they’re not going to offer you that lower price out of the kindness of their hearts; it’s your responsibility to assess what you’re willing to pay for an item and whether you think it can be sold for less. The worst thing that can happen is that the store says no to your offer.
Lastly, emotional appeals can sometimes be persuasive. I’ll never know for sure whether my negotiation tactics were really responsible for the deal I got, but I suspect that if I had merely stated to the saleswoman or manager that I wanted to pay $100 less off the bat, I may not have gotten what I wanted. Instead, I slowly worked my way from “my budget” to “a little less expensive” to “$100 off”. By taking this approach, I think I was perceived less as some brat who just wanted a discount and more as a casual buyer who might really be willing to walk away from this sale. The sales staff treated me differently because of this perception, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong or dishonest about using this as a negotiation tactic. After all, if they genuinely didn’t think they were getting a fair deal in the sale, they wouldn’t have offered me the discount at all.
Coming up in the next post is Part 2, where I find out that not quite everything is as negotiable as I had thought…
It seemed like a decent price, but it was still a bit steep compared to the other models we’d been looking at. We talked it over privately and decided that this was definitely the couch for us. But being the frugal consumer that I am, I insisted that I write down the model info and research it online before we bought it at this store. My fiancé agreed and we left the store without purchasing anything. After a few days of intense research, it appeared that Value City really did have the best price for this couch. There were some Internet sites that had it for sale, but at a higher cost and without the free shipping. Even if they had it at the same price, I typically prefer to shop at brick & mortar stores whenever I’m making such a big and expensive purchase (it’s always nice to have a store that you can walk back into and see the manager face-to-face if there are any issues).Finally, after much agonizing and useless pacing, I decided to pull the trigger. My fiancé knew me too well to accompany me on the trip to the store…she knew that I was planning to do some bargaining, and when that happens, she prefers to be somewhere else.
On the way to Value City, I had a momentary hesitation and decided to pay a visit to Jennifer Convertibles. I had remembered reading that Jennifer was a Klaussner dealer, so I figured I’d take one more glance at the competition. Sure enough, Jennifer was selling the same couch in their catalog…but for hundreds of dollars more and without the free delivery! I mentioned to the sales manager the price I had seen at Value City…he told me, “If you can get that price for this couch, go sign right now!” I was taken aback by his refreshing candor…it had reassured me that my decision to buy it at Value City was not a foolish one.
So off I went back to the store. I went over to the Klaussner couch and was quickly approached by a saleswoman. I told her that I was interested in purchasing this couch, but the price was a little higher than my budget. Now some might find this bargaining process to be somewhat dishonest; I personally don’t take that view. My goal is to get this couch for the lowest price that the store is willing to accept for it; if one “story” is more likely to make that happen than another, it’s all part of a legitimate capitalistic negotiation. After all, if the lowest price they’re willing to sell it for is already on the sticker, it shouldn’t matter what story I tell them. I should also point out that I made sure to wear my college t-shirt to the store that day, as a way of illustrating that I was working “on a budget”. In reality, I was willing to pay the price on the sticker for this couch; but why not give bargaining a shot?
The saleswoman said that it was already very discounted and that this was the lowest price she could sell it for. I asked if I could speak to a manager about it, and she was very courteous and got one in a few minutes. The manager repeated the same line; this is when I switched to my second tactic. “Look,” I said to him, “I’d really like to buy this couch but it’s just a little higher than I’m looking to spend. If you could go even a little bit lower, I’d buy it right now.” My hope was that he would see that I was prepared to make the purchase there and then and that would force his hand on the truly lowest price he could sell it for. He still hesitated and proceeded to tell me about their interest-free financing. I quickly stopped him and said I wasn’t really interested in the financing…and then used my third and final tactic, “I’ll buy it on a credit card right now, payment in full, if you can knock it down by even $100!” The manager paused for a moment and thought about it…and then replied, “Okay, $100 off if you pay in full right now.” I got my credit card out and headed to the register with the saleswoman.
I walked away from this experience having learned a few things. First of all, never be afraid to jump on a good deal. Sometimes, I second-guess myself and worry that I’m overpaying and that I should hold out for a bigger sale. But this has often resulted in my actually missing out on the best price.
Secondly, it never hurts to haggle. Many people find it unpleasant to bargain for major purchases, but when it comes to furniture, vehicles, or other high-value items, the sticker price is very often quite negotiable. It’s important to remember that you’re not trying to rip anybody off; the store is in business to make money, and if the salesperson thinks they can get your business with a lower price, they’d rather make the sale at that price than not make it at all. But they’re not going to offer you that lower price out of the kindness of their hearts; it’s your responsibility to assess what you’re willing to pay for an item and whether you think it can be sold for less. The worst thing that can happen is that the store says no to your offer.
Lastly, emotional appeals can sometimes be persuasive. I’ll never know for sure whether my negotiation tactics were really responsible for the deal I got, but I suspect that if I had merely stated to the saleswoman or manager that I wanted to pay $100 less off the bat, I may not have gotten what I wanted. Instead, I slowly worked my way from “my budget” to “a little less expensive” to “$100 off”. By taking this approach, I think I was perceived less as some brat who just wanted a discount and more as a casual buyer who might really be willing to walk away from this sale. The sales staff treated me differently because of this perception, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong or dishonest about using this as a negotiation tactic. After all, if they genuinely didn’t think they were getting a fair deal in the sale, they wouldn’t have offered me the discount at all.
Coming up in the next post is Part 2, where I find out that not quite everything is as negotiable as I had thought…
The moment we sat down on it in the Value City Furniture showroom we knew we had found “the one”; it was like falling in love, but with a much ... vvaluecityfurniture.blogspot.com
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