It's like haggling at a market. I hate it. I know the price the seller first tells me is too much, and I have to waste my time arguing and heckling to get it down.
I don't like doing so. I don't want to have to be fake-friendly with people just to get the 'best' price on something, and leave feeling like I could probably have paid less if I'd just negotiated harder.
It's too much mental effort and I don't find there's any mental reward to the process. It doesn't feel like I got "a deal" it feels like the business or individual I negotiated with is probably trying to rip me off, and probably succeeded.
I'll get the best price by businesses competing with each other for my custom. Or I won't. Either way 'haggling' is alien to me and I prefer the world to be more straightforward.
it also feels a lot like haggling where knowing the price is key. without knowing what everyone else is paying you don’t know if it’s a good deal or not
Haggling is fun. I’m convinced the modern aversion to haggling in first world countries is because people grow up avoiding all direct confrontation. They think it’s somehow how rude to disagree with someone about the price of the article at hand. The next level of it is when they justify this “politeness” by claiming that haggling is inefficient or a waste of time.
In many places outside the US haggling is the norm. People expect it so the initial price is way higher than what the person will accept. You through the same process everytime. You offer half and you work your way up until you meet or walk away. Overtime it is just a waste of time and energy. One offs is not too bad but if you have to do it for everything, it sux. I would hate for it to become the norm. I won't do it. I don't want to encourage it. Our current system is not perfect but haggling for everything is worse.
If I was able to haggle I might not have such a problem with it. But this cannot possibly be called haggling, as there is no ability to communicate with somebody and make a counter-offer.
On the haggling part, there are places where it's culturally insensitive not to haggle. I find that super irritating as a person who does not enjoy playing the game.
I hate the practice of haggling because it is based on an asymmetry in the knowledge of the sellers and buyers. Instead, I'd prefer that all past sales be visible in a publicly accessible database, so that you could just see how much other people have been paying for stuff. Selling at a different price than the one that is recorded should then be a grave offense, a form of fraud.
Is haggling anything but a waste of time? My understanding is that it's like haggling for cars. The buyer never really wins, they at best "don't lose."
Sure, some people might be okay with the haggle or even expect it.
At my company, I've come across people who find it in their nature to haggle the price. There are only 2 ways to deal with them. Up the price and come down to your normal price or don't deal with those customers.
99% of the time, I tell that we don't negotiate price. We charge what we charge because we do a good job and you're going to love it when we're done. 1% it's a good friend so yea...
If they ask again, I tell them we're not a good fit for each other. 7 times out of 10, they try to convince me to do business with them after that. 3 out 10 walk away, which is awesome because they just saved me a shit load of headache.
Nothing personal but I feel cheat out of money if I give into hagglers and if I'm not happy, I find it harder to serve them as well as I want to. Better to refuse that business than to provide sub-par service.
It's not haggling to pretend. In haggling the goal of each person is clear and there's only dimension, price, and each participant wants an outcome to maximize in a specific direction out of 2 possible ones (price up, price down).
What I mean are social situations that are way more complex like if you tell me I need to let you pass me in some queue because your grandma is dying, but turns out you just wanted to get home quicker to relax. At work there's a lot of this stuff when people exaggerate in a malicious way assuming everyone is doing it, and I can't stand it.
If we're haggling I know what we're doing and I'll also haggle.
When I don't want to haggle (which is often, as I hate it) I simply take the posted price and pay that or ignore the offer. I will never ask for a cheaper price if not interested in haggling. People with deliberately overblown prices which never expect anyone to actually pay that will simply not get my business at all in that case.
I absolutely hate bargaining like this, and countries where you're hounded and hassled to buy things without price tags on. For me, it's an education on how not to do business. It's quite like spam email.
Unfortunately this system just doesn't work with me. I'm less likely to go in a shop with no price tags on, because then I know I'll have to ask the shopkeeper the price of everything. It's inefficient. I guess if you grow up with the haggling you develop strategies for coping maybe, but I'm so glad to not be in a country where you have to deal with all that.
Haggling for stuff you want can be really fun, haggling for stuff you need is usually horrible, especially if the seller realises how much you need it.
Want to know a trick to haggling? Decide how much you're willing to pay for something, pull out the money and say "I'm willing to give you this. Otherwise I'm leaving." If they protest, walk away. If the seller can make money at that price, I guarantee you will get called back and you will end up having your purchase at your desired price very quickly.
At least, thus far, it's the most efficient haggling method I've found.
Appart from the fact that the analogy isn't nice, you seem to misunderstand the process of haggeling. I personnaly don't like to haggle or people who try to haggle with me just for the sake of efficiency. But in some places or with some people haggeling it is a must do if you don't want to end the day as a chikken without feathers. In north Africa and Middle Est it is common practice. So in south of France where many north Africans are living, haggling is an expected practice when making deals from person to person. If you are not doing this, then you are considered to be an idiot.
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