Can You Do Better?
Especially when there’s an expectation to haggle.
Now, most of the time, there’s a price tag and people just pay the asking price.
But you’d be surprised how much wiggle room there is.
Many places the sales person simply doesn’t have the authority to haggle, and they might feel put on the spot.
But just to have some fun, try this out.
Next time you’re shopping for something, and there’s a salesperson standing nearby, look at the price tag, look at them, and ask, “Can you do any better?”
Chances are they’ll look confused.
This works really great if you’re in smaller shops that are staffed by the proprietor themselves.
Although there are some places this will clearly backfire. Like standing in line at your favorite fast food place at lunchtime.
But for the vast majority of things, nothing’s REALLY set in stone.
Which means if you simply ask, you may be surprised what you can get.
But if you never ask, you’ll never get.
Of course, you can give yourself a lot better chance if you ask “correctly.” If you just walked up to people on the street and asked them for money, you wouldn’t likely be successful.
But if you get to know the person, just a little bit, to find out what they wanted, it you might make your “request” a lot more “acceptable.”
Like before asking the department store salesperson if they can “do any better,” you might ask if they work on commission. Or how sales have been. Or any other benefit TO THEM for making a sale.
Now, the point is not to get out there be a super ninja haggler, and always be asking everybody what they can give you.
But it is kind of fun to see almost every single relationship as something “to be determined” compared to something listed on a price tag, or somebody’s expectations.
Truth is most people are pretty bored. They see themselves, and everybody else fulfilling some “role” of what they are supposed to say and do.
So when you come up and “change the rules,” they’ll see you as somebody that’s more interesting than everybody else. Somebody who doesn’t necessarily need to play by the rules.
Once you start seeing your reality around you as a work in progress, one you can fully participate in and mold as you move through it, life can be a LOT more fun.
Of course, this requires you leave behind some of those old fear of “looking silly” or “calling attention to yourself.”
But that’s pretty easy to do.