Want to save some money?

In case you missed this news story on KOMO Tuesday night, you should find this pretty interesting stuff. You'll notice that the article talks about retail goods, not services. If you think you can save money by asking a service provider for a discount on services, think again: if you do get a discount, you'll get what you pay for.

Houses and retail goods, on the other hand, are a different matter.

by Herb Weisbaum, KOMO News

Can you save money by bargaining over the price of the things? Does it really work?

You can, and it does, according to the folks at Shop Smart magazine.


They say haggling can save you money. The trick is being prepared to talk down the price.

I think most of us would feel a little foolish trying to negotiate a better deal at a department or appliance store. And yet, it's done all the time.

Lisa Lee Freeman, editor in chief of Shop Smart magazine, says the more you haggle, the more surprised you'll be at how well it works.

"It works so well," she said. "It doesn't work every time, but my philosophy is: if you don't ask, you don't get. And when you get, you can save hundreds of dollars that you wouldn't have otherwise saved."

Freeman says while shopping for shoes, she asked the salesperson to give her a 15-percent discount if she bought three pairs of shoes. The salesman not only agreed to the deal but also gave her 15-percent off on a blouse she was buying.

Freeman suggests consumers first build up their confidence by doing some research online on Web sites like bizrate.com and froogle.com. Then, Freeman says, you'll know a good price when you see it.

"And it will also give you firepower when you're out there haggling. You could print out those prices that you find online and use them. I've actually gone into an electronics store with those printed out prices from a Web site and the salesperson was wiling to beat those prices. So it can be a powerful thing to do it to have those printout," she said.

If the salesperson won't come down in price, Freeman says you should see if the store can throw in some extras.

"For example if you're buying a big screen TV and it's already on sale and they are not going to give yo a price break, maybe they'll give you free delivery or a break on installation or maybe a break on the cables that you need to hook the TV up," she said.

Freeman says you have to be willing to walk away if you're going to haggle. If you're not willing to walk away, it's much harder to negotiate.

"Don't be afraid. Give it a shot. You're not always going to get a break, but when you do, it's really going to pay off," she said.

Remember Freeman's rule: you can't get if you don't ask. With the economy slowing, retailers may be more willing than ever to negotiate over the price.

More information:

How to save on all the things you buy