Thoughts on Haggling

Last month was all about purging and making way for more organization or new things. This month I guess will just be general buying & saving tips.

Some things are meant to be haggled over like houses and cars. Other things...not so much...

I think a case where haggling is okay is if a seller explicitly invites you to make an offer or if they say "OBO" (or best offer). Even in those situations, I don't typically haggle.

I don't like to do it, my husband does not and we do not, unless it would be say a home or a car. Our rule of thumb when purchasing something is that if we don't like the price they have set forth, we don't buy it. We don't make a big deal about it or mention it. This is particularly true when you shop at garage sales, Craigslist, or when you are buying used. Chances are, the person is selling said item at probably 75-90 percent off the retail price giving you an excellent deal already. It is okay for them to recoup some of the money they spent on the item especially if it is in great condition.
Chances also are that this person isn't doing C/L or a garage sale for your charity. Often times, people have sales to make a little money on stuff they no longer need. This isn't your opportunity to be an extreme cheapskate at the expense of insulting them or getting something for nothing basically. If they were doing it for charity, they wouldn't have had a sale and they would have simply donated already to charity.
My husband almost detests the following scenario: you have an item at a garage sale for sale for $1.00. They come up and ask you to take 50 cents. Really??? Where else are you going to purchase this item for the $1 price and you can't spend those extra 2 quarters?? You have a nice item that you are asking $75 for and you may have paid $500 and they ask you to take $30. Umm...not worth my time.
Like I said previously, when we go to garage sales and we often do, we NEVER ask people to take less. I feel like I'm getting a great bargain as it is, and I feel like it is insulting. If it isn't something that you feel is worth the price they are asking, keep that opinion to yourself and simply don't purchase it!!
Maybe go back the next day to their sale and it may be marked down. I don't mind paying a good price for people's stuff at sales that they have taken care of...it is doing us both a favor.