Although I didn't have to put much effort in to get $30 off the price, I'm sure my body language showed that I wasn't going to buy at full price. JB Hi-Fi staff, I'm informed, can spot customers who like to negotiate. The company didn't respond to my request for an interview on this point.
Another way to bargain in-store is to whip out your smartphone, log into the PriceMe or PriceSpy app and see what other stores are selling the item for. Retailers will often price match when shown an item is cheaper elsewhere.
Beware that they won't usually match parallel-imported prices. The issue there is that if you have a problem with the parallel-imported goods you'll usually need to wait weeks while the item is sent overseas for repairs. That sometimes pushes people to buy locally sourced goods, although I think it's a rort that companies won't help people who have bought genuine products. I was caught out like this last year.
Utilities companies are also worth bargaining with. Power companies and telecomms providers are eager to both gain new customers and retain existing ones. The easiest way to bargain with them is to take up an offer from one of the door-to-door salespeople who sell utilities company deals. I was always against the cult-like fervour of this sales approach, with the salesperson typically refusing to leave any documentation with you and insisting you sign on the spot or miss out.
My opinion changed when an employee of Sellutions knocked on my door with a deal for Genesis Energy. He left the paperwork behind, and after going through his deal with a fine tooth comb, I signed up. It would save me money for the first 12 months, after which I could reassess the situation.
As soon as I told my then power company that I was leaving it came back with a counter offer. A proportion of customers who have got to this stage take the counter offer, says Mark Richardson, chief executive of Sellutions. Many, like me, appreciate the work the salesperson has put in and go with the new deal.
It's time for me to shop around again. I found out that the Sellutions people are wearing their shoe leather down on the footpaths of Mt Roskill at the moment. It turns out, however, that I can ask Sellutions to send a sales person to my house with the current deal called PowerSure04 that it's selling for Contact Energy.
The door-to-door deal had cheaper prices than Contact was offering new customers who went direct this week. For example, the per kilowatt cost for electricity was 18.852c on the doorstep compared with 22.83c through the Contact call centre.
If you're locked in a contract, the salespeople often have the authority to give you a credit up to the amount of the break fee. Be careful, however, to make sure that the deal suits your needs and that you have read the paperwork thoroughly to ensure it is in your best interests.
A reader made an interesting observation about the door-to-door sales method. He says yes to any power company or telecomms deal that is sold at his door. He then goes back to his existing provider to see if they can come up with a better deal. That's clever.
Door-to-door telecomms offers tend to require an on-the-spot signing. However, a Spark salesperson who came to my doorstep left me with paperwork which unfortunately revealed that the otherwise attractive deal wasn't relevant because the calling discounts on offer applied to times when I don't use the phone.
Thanks to a couple of interactions with insurance company call centres for articles, I've discovered that haggling is alive and well in that industry. When I approached Tower for a quote before Christmas, it wasn't initially competitive. As soon as the staff member heard what I was paying, the premium dropped by over $200. I was astounded that such discounting was possible at the drop of a hat. In the end I didn't move because AMI has higher voluntary excesses which dropped the premium below Tower's offer.
It was the same story with Youi, an Australian company that has begun offering cover here. The premium quote on my house dropped dramatically when the staff member heard what I was paying at AMI.
But when contents and car were taken into account I was still marginally better off with AMI. It showed, though, that it's worth asking insurers to drop their prices. Take care, however, that you're comparing apples with apples. Sometimes the cover isn't the same, or the excesses are different.
The list doesn't stop there. If I was renovating a house I would shop around to get trade discounts. If you have a company number and GST registration it's not difficult to sign up for official trade discount programmes. If not, you can negotiate hard with the businesses to give you the equivalent discount every time your shop.
You should also haggle for gym deals, rent, mortgage and loan interest rates, private medical care and jewellery. On the odd occasion I get stung with a fee from the bank I always phone and argue until it's reversed. This is a type of haggling.
With all the deals on GrabOne and other one-day-sale websites, there's a lot you can bargain on. If, for example, there's a vehicle warrant of fitness and service deal that you like the look of, ask your own mechanic if he'll match it. This goes a bit against my rule of not haggling with the little guys. But many people use the big chains such as AA, Firestone, Midas and others and you can haggle with them. I've even heard of people haggling with nursing homes.
If you can't get a discount on the up-front price, see what they are willing to throw in. With tyres it could be alignment or balancing or with a hotel it could be a room upgrade.
Haggling with the big boys is not always going to work. But if you make it a habit it's possible to save hundreds of dollars a year.
