talkmagic.co.uk

So who here haggles the sales men in shops? Trying to get that £20 discount on a TV.

I've been watchinf Don't Get Done Get Dom. It's a great show, and he deomstrates how eay it is to get massive discounts on goods and how much shops acually rip you off.

I watch it all the time now! It's inspired me. When I get some cash I think I'll be heading in to Dixons or somehwere and getting myself a nice new TV, with a nice discount

You obviously have to be cinfident while doing this, but I'm cheeky so it's all good

Anybody watch the show? Or do a bit of haggling themselves?

Well.. I didnt believe in haggling, till I was 18 and my Dad haggled a 30 discount from HMV for a couple of CD's. I was shocked and realised you can haggle anywhere..

so I will..

Abroad.. I have a line my wife will get shivers of embarrasment for hearing me say.. '' In England, we have poundland, everything £1. I will give you £1 for it.. ''

More often than not.. I get a good deal

I managed to get a £300 discount, plus 2 'monster' HDMI cables when purchasing a £1600 Plasma TV from a well-known highstreet retailer.

I literally told them I would part with cash on the spot if the deal was right.

Having cash in your pocket SOMETIMES works. Not all the time though...

I recently tried to get a discount on some tyres for my car. Not only did the tyre company tell me that 'their products were already keenly priced', but they also tried to sting me for tracking the vehicle.

Choose your time, your place, and your words. Befriend the salesperson, and always ask them 'is there anything you or your *manager* can do for a fast cash sale?'

Bear in mind also that many retailers are already balls-to-the-wall on items, and sometimes, there's very little or no profit in goods.

You have to be very careful where you haggle in Britain I imagine. I expect in some places it would not go over very well and you would end up irritating the salesman. But in some places it would work. However haggling takes time and salesmen who have a busy turnover wouldn't want to waste that time.

On the other hand I am at present in Mexico performing at resort hotels and haggling is expected here and indeed encouraged. I don't particularly like it but that is the way it is here.

I remember my first experience with illegal street vendors in Italy last year on my honeymoon... I wasn't prepared for that sort of thing. You ask "How much is this?" and they say to you: "How much do you want to pay?"

Of course when you give a price and they say "OK"... you instantly realize you've been had!

In Tunisia, they start at roughly ten times the value on the assumption you'll offer a third of their first price and they can work you up to half. The best tactic is to offer what it's worth to you and not care how much profit they make and when then say "oh, I have seven children ..." etc. go LOWER, they soon get the message. It was great fun.

In Tunisia, Egypt and Cuba, I definately noticed those tactics applied. Haggling was expected.

Although, in Cuba, everything is fixed-price (Castro's rules). i.e. a bottle of Cola will cost the same in every shop across the land. However, 'street' prices are extremely flexible, and haggling was almost fun for the seller and ourselves.

Mark's quite right about Mexico, if you don't haggle you lose all respect. Mind you, it doesn't apply to McDonalds in Mexico, the prices are fixed! A couple of years ago we did a day trip from Kos to Bodrum in Turkey and were told that we absolutely had to haggle on everything, especially in the markets. The first market stall guy I haggled with listened patiently to my wonderfully crafted spiel and irrefutable attempts to get a lower price then, in accentless English just said, 'No - p*ss off'. I gave up after that .

Marvell wrote:In Tunisia, they start at roughly ten times the value on the assumption you'll offer a third of their first price and they can work you up to half. The best tactic is to offer what it's worth to you and not care how much profit they make and when then say "oh, I have seven children ..." etc. go LOWER, they soon get the message. It was great fun.

i'd just be tempted to offer to pay in condoms if that was the case...

i wonder if they sell 'em on amazon...hopefully not on the new/used section...

I've been to Egypt! Great place! I love it. Lots of culture over there, however, you can see Western culture slowly creaping in, with there being a KFC no more then 150 yards away from the Pyramids of Giza.

My brother wanted to buy a little statue of Anubis from a guy in the Bizzare (a market). The guy wanted 500 Egyptian Dollars for it, which is £50. My brother kept on saying please, please to my mum, which was very silly. The man played on that by syaing look at him he really wants it. In the end my mum got it down to 300 dollars, only to later find out from our tour guide it was worth no more then 50. Which is £5.

On the other hand, in the airport, I really wanted a bong The guy wanted to sell it to me for $300, after a long talk I got it for $150 with four packets of flavoured tobacco

It makes my blood boil that in every country in the world now (practically) there are KFC's and McDonalds. If I go to Egypt and admire the Valley of the Kings, I don't want to eat a bloody Zinger Burger on my way home.

I suppose these fast food outlets wouldn't open if there wasn't the demand, so it is in fact the fault of the stupid tourists who can't bear the thought of eating native cuisine. Idiots.

There should be an IQ test before anyone is able to visit world heritage sites.

Lots of culture over there, however, you can see Western culture slowly creaping in, with there being a KFC no more then 150 yards away from the Pyramids of Giza.

I was gutted when I went. I expected it to be in the middle of the desert. But you can sit in KFC or Pizza hut just accross the road from the sphinx and the pyramids.

AndyRegs wrote:
I was gutted when I went. I expected it to be in the middle of the desert. But you can sit in KFC or Pizza hut just accross the road from the sphinx and the pyramids.

Terrible isn't it. Boo.

AndyRegs wrote:

Lots of culture over there, however, you can see Western culture slowly creaping in, with there being a KFC no more then 150 yards away from the Pyramids of Giza.

I was gutted when I went. I expected it to be in the middle of the desert. But you can sit in KFC or Pizza hut just accross the road from the sphinx and the pyramids.

I felt exactly the same