I am sooo bad at it.

I have to call a guy this morning and negotiate his bid for painting our barn with him. I hate hate hate this...DH can't do it (or won't) because 1.) he is at work...and 2.) I think he likes to MAKE me do it. His own little way of thinking he is "teaching me"

Do you negotiate for savings? or is this totally out of your box??

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I do and you can do it too! I did a lot of the negotiation when we bought our new house, we got a privacy fence and they are building a 2 car garage as part of the deal! YOU CAN DO IT!

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Maggie - Nanny to Nephew - Mom to Caitlyn Marie!!

It is totally out of my box!!! Dh and I are both terrible at it. We pay full price for anything that needs negotiating!

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~Happiness is a large family~

I'm awful! Simply awful.

I can do it, sometimes. Over the phone is easiest for me. No face to face contact. The main thing is to have the set price in your head that you are willing to pay, and either start off lower, or else firmly say that someone else has offered to give you the thing at such and such a price, and either 1. You like this person, and wanted to give them first shot to match the price or 2. But you realize you've already got a working relatioship with this person and would rather give them the business if they will take that price.

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"And the state of his bathroom -- I'm not one to gossip, but there are things crusted on his sink that have not simply developed intelligent life but have in all probability by now evolved their own political systems." Cain describes Abel in in SANDMAN #70

My dh is good at it so I let him do the talking.

Why don't men learn "sink or swim" is not a method of teaching? I'm not the best, but I've tried sometimes. When he gives you the quote, say nothing. "The one who speaks next is the weaker one". Supposedly. The only thing you can say is, "Wow." or "Hmmm".

Then he'll either justify or backpedal. You can ask then if there's any way to do a bit better on the price. He may ask you what you have in mind, or how much you planned to spend. Don't give a figure, just say, "Not quite this much." You can always use, "My husband won't be happy." or "My husband will kill me."

It's really hard doing this, especially when it's not a big company, but a guy trying to keep a roof over his own head. You want to believe they won't charge more than they really need to. It's not always true.

You can also ask if he offers a discount if you pay in cash/check, rather than a credit card, since ccs take 3-5%, if I remember right, plus the time it takes for him to get paid.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

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Hubby and I are both good negotiators. He's even better, though. The secret is to not be emotionally involved. If the deal doesn't happen, oh well.

My attitude is that deals should be a win-win for everyone involved. I DO want the vendor to have a decent profit. That is, after all, why they are in business - to make money. But I also want to be happy with the deal. Can you be flexible on the barn job? Can the painter negotiate the timing? Can he put a junior member on the job? Would it be better if you bought the paint and provided it for him? It isn't always about money. Perhaps there is something the painter would want that would help lower the price - and make you both happy.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

No matter what the price I am offered is, I tell the person that we are getting a "few" estimates, I appreciate their time, and I'll let them know. Then, if there is one I really like (maybe they seemed more honest, but the price was higher - or if I can't choose between two), I call them back and tell them that I had another estimate that was lower - can they do any better? I might throw out a number (even if I'm lying - I have another estimate for $600 - can you match that?).
Then, the person will tell me that no, sorry, they can't, but they can do $800. Or, they might say if we got an offer that low, I better be sure they do the job right because they must be cutting corners or something. So I usually don't throw a number out - just that I did get lower offers, but that I was really impressed with how thorough he was, or that I'd heard good things about his work and I'd really prefer to go with him, but it was just too much financially, and see if I get a counter offer.