For my first real blog entry I'm bringing up a tough topic, one that many people don't want to even attempt.
and that would be... Haggling.
....or hassling, bargaining, deal-making... whatever you want to call it. Its a scary concept. What right do you have to ASK to NOT PAY retail? The answer to that is, you DO have the right to and here's why.
The retail price of many items is just a made up number of what companies think is the most people are willing to pay for the item. Depending on the item itself, retailers mark up prices 50% or more than what they actually pay for the product and call that the retail price. Sometimes the distributer makes up this number, but it is in fact just a figure to make the most profit. Lucky for us, tack stores are usually of the "mom and pop" variety and not the giant box store variety (although if they were it you wouldn't have to worry about this so much). This opens up the opportunity to negotiate the price you actually want to pay. Lets face it, when your local tack store is having their big 20% off sale that they have twice a year, you rush over to try to take advantage of the deals! OMG! 20% off on horse stuff!!! Too bad you have to wait months for the sale to come around... well obviously thats not the case if you know how to make a deal.
Here are some of the key things you need to do/have in order to begin the bargaining process:
• GUTS... this is the biggest one. If you are scared then you are going to get walked all over. Period. Just suck it up and deal. Its not like you are swimming with sharks or jumping off an airplane, you are just having a conversation with someone.
• Be confident. This requires the first thing I mentioned... guts. If you have them, then take control of them. When you are negotiating a deal you won't be very convincing if you are looking at the floor, shaking or talking like a mouse. Look the person you are talking to in the eye, act like its no big deal and that you are just having a normal conversation like you would with any other person.
• Have a plan. Don't just grab a $50 bit off the shelf a decide that you have $10 in your pocket and thats what you are going to pay for it. Think to yourself what YOU think is a reasonable price to ask for that item and go from there. It could be anywhere from $5 to $15 off the price of the bit... or more if you feel like being brave, but remember, the retailer still wants to make money off of it so you have a better chance of getting a deal if its fair to the retailer.
•Do your research. Sometimes you just can't haggle prices and that depends on several things. Like supplements and medications... they are tricky and usually a fixed price set by the manufacturer. Its how come they always say "supplements and wormers excluded" when the whole store is 20% off. Also if a product is in high demand or is brand spanking new (unless its a test market product)... you might not have much luck negotiating prices with those things. On the other hand, if you know that the thing you are looking for has been sitting in the store for a while or is "out of season" haggling becomes MUCH easier, because that means the item is not popular at the moment and its not doing them any good just sitting on the shelf looking old. This is ESPECIALLY important if the product has been replaced with a newer, more updated product. At this point they have no excuse not to put it on sale because its out of date! 9 times out of 10 it is just as good as or virtually the same as the product that has replaced it, so go for it!
When they say "lowest discount allowed by manufacturer" thats also *pretty much* garbage. While they don't want to upset the distributer/manufacturer by offering a really low price on the item all the time, it doesn't mean they can't offer it once in a while, so you could get lucky. You can be that "once in a while" if you are confident enough.
Another BIG thing in this category is find out what other places are selling the item you are looking for. Most of the time, if you find a lower price, you can use that price as a starting point. You may not be able to get that exact price, but you can probably get close... remember, you found that price in the first place and COULD HAVE purchased it from where you found it, but are willing to purchase the item at the tack shop of your choice... and if that tack shop isn't stupid... they will value the fact that you came to them instead of purchasing the item from the place you found it on sale at.... and yes, this should be the case even if its an ebay store. Bring in proof (ie a dated print-out, flyer or even show them on your smartphone) that it was on sale THAT day, so they will take you seriously. You may not even know it, but your local tack shop could have a "price match" policy in place anyway, so it never hurts to ask. For example, Horsemen's Outlet in NJ has this policy well advertised on a big huge banner in and out of the store. You'd think that people would actually take advantage of it, but they almost never do... and I know this because the managers at Horsemen's EXPECT me to bring them coupons and lower advertised prices from other tack shops and I get jokingly hassled about it too; "here comes that girl that who always finds those deals!" Its obviously not a frequent occurrence, especially since I have honestly only brought them a handful of ads (most of the time I don't have to because it IS Horsemen's Outlet and what I want is probably on sale anyway... gotta love them).
• Keep in mind a budget. While it does not always work, you can plant you foot by saying "this is my budget and I unfortunately cannot pay anymore." Sometimes they will counter offer, and if you can still get deals this way, trust me. You just have to be firm, the counter offer may not be worth your while and you just put your foot down again. If they really want to sell you the item they will stick to your budget if you are persistent enough. If you start to walk away and they don't follow you (usually verbally... LOL) then you should go back and take the counter offer. You will probably get a deal either way, but you just have to be a bit flexible.
The bigger, more expensive the item... the less I want to pay for it. This usually comes into play with things like saddles and other expensive leather-goods. The retailer KNOWS this. Keeping in mind the other tips I just gave you, you can get AMAZING deals on things. I recently purchased a gorgeous hand-made european saddle with soft italian leather that had a retail value of $2300 for $700... BRAND NEW. Thats 70% off the retail price, which is more than that saddle sells used (and thats not even the best deal I've gotten on a new saddle :P ). I did this by offering the dealer what my actual budget was, even though it was almost insultingly low, because I knew the dealer was looking to move merchandise (this usually happens at the end of the year folks.... *hint, hint*). They countered with an offer that was $150 more than my offer. MOST people would have accepted it, but I knew that they only reason they countered was because they *might* be able to get more for it, even though they probably didn't really have to. So I stuck to my guns and they went with my original offer. It helps to know who you are dealing with... but I can honestly say this has worked EVERY time for me when I have all my ducks in a row (don't skip the research part people). On a side note, big deals like this usually take practice. My advice is try to start smaller so you have a better chance of success when the deal making gets bigger :)
• Back up your mouth! WHY do you need that item for the price you want it at? Well it always helps to have a story. It doesn't really matter if its true (I'm not telling you to lie, thats your prerogative) but if you have a REASON for needing that item, it certainly doesn't hurt. When I found the perfect jumping saddle for me, and believe me I'm hard to fit, I wasn't just going to walk away from it even though it was out of my price range. I explained to them that I NEEDED that saddle and this is why... (insert my reason here). It helped to be that convincing because guess what? I got that saddle at the price they paid for it, which was in fact 65% off retail... and was a price I could afford!
• Know who to talk to. The manager is always a good place to start. Don't waste your time with sales people, they have no idea how to help you. Even better yet, how about the owner? I've made deals (and am on a first name basis) with quite a few of the owners of INTERNATIONAL tack retailers because I know who is in charge. How do I do that? I ask... its really not that hard. And it will usually get you places when it comes to getting deals. The higher up the chain, the better, in my humble opinion. But you have to know when to stop! If you try to get the owner of a major tack retailer.... "because you absolutely have to talk to them!"... to haggle over a $50 bit, you are likely to piss them off more than anything, and you always want to keep up appearances and not be "that crazy person" or you will be shit out of luck when dealing with them in the future.
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So now you know how to prepare yourself to make a deal. I can't promise that any haggling attempts you make will be successful, but you only increase your chances of making a deal if you put forth the effort and TRY. Or you can stick to those twice a year 20% off sales... but honestly, I think you can do better ;)
Let me know how you make out!
Oh and before I go, I want to give you one more tip. The Horse World Expo is coming up in Jan and Feb and if you are going, be sure to save your shopping for the LAST DAY. The retailers do not want to take home the majority of the things they brought with them... so Sunday is your chance to make a killer deal! This rings true for ANY event where there are shopping vendors. The more things you buy the better too, its a good way to stock up on saddle pads, halters and things of that nature.
So go forth my children... and take advantage of this crummy economy by giving yourself the opportunity to get some killer deals on tack!!!
