Negotiating in Chinatown

Photo Credit: -Marlith-

I decided to give a recap of my weekend in New York City. My cousin’s graduation was last Thursday and we decided to enjoy our other days in the city.

• Have a budget of what you’re going to spend and what you want to buy. You can go overbroad by overspending. Haggling can be very addictive and can easily lead you to buy things just because you got the price ‘low enough’. If you afraid of missing a deal, add 20% to your budget.
• Carry cash. You have more power with using cash.
• Bring shades. At least buy your shades first, you’ll see why later.
• Work out who’s the good cop and who is the bad cop. My husband does a bad cop pretty well. The good cop wants the merchandise, but the bad cop reminds them they have a budget to keep. When you’re in the haggling situation, stay with your roles. You can switch up between them.
• Don’t accept the first price. Use it as idea of what the buyer is expecting to get from it.
• Don’t give them your price too quickly. By keeping quiet you can sometimes have them lower the price themselves. If just being silent is awkward try this: look interested, but not quite convinced it’s a good deal. Having shades also alleviates the silence. I just looked at my husband (act like he’ll say no), the merchandise, and the seller.
• Go low on your offer. You’re going to meet In between anyway, so try to start small.
• Be prepared to walk away.
• Be reasonable. Don’t offer $5 on a $70 purse. You’re wasting time on both sides.

How did we did we do? I think we held our own.

What was bought in our little group:

• 7 Sunglasses
• 2 Sets of Earrings
• 1 Purse
• 5 T-Shirts
• 3 Watches
• 1 Baseball Cap (I really liked the design on it.)

The total was around $116. I think the negogiating was the best part. We probably could’ve gotten some stuff even cheaper if we tried a but harder, but the temperture was over 100 F with the heat index considered. We couldn’t find the exact Hello Kitty purse that my sister wanted and she’s very particulur, so she got a T-shirt instead. J I hope that my expirience is helpful to someone.

How do you feel about haggling? What was the last thing you bargained for? Do you have any tips for the rest of us? If you do, please leave a comment. If you have a blog post, email me and I’ll update my article and include it.

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