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Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for a Discount, The Sequel

Written by Nickel - 20 Comments

This past Friday night I was reminded of the importance of being proactive and asking for a discount when you’re shopping. We’ve been in the market for a new TV for a little while now, and we finally narrowed our search to one model in particular. Circuit City had it in stock and for a good price, but I decided to stop off at Best Buy before making the purchase (they’re only about a block apart).

I was in a hurry, so I rushed to the back, checked the price, saw that the Circuit City price was selling it for about 15% less, and turned to head out. On my way out of the TV section, a Best Buy employee intercepted me and asked if there was anything he could help me with. I pointed to the TV in question and told him that I wanted to buy it, but that Circuit City had a much better price. He replied that he was sure that he could match it. Without even thinking about it, the first thing out of my mouth was “Can you beat it? If all you can do is match their price, I’ll just go buy from them.”

My thinking was that if Circuit City was selling it for a better price in the first place, I should reward them with my purchase. But if Best Buy was willing to undercut Circuit City, then I’d happily buy from them instead. After tapping away at his keyboard for a minute or two, he said that he could give me 20% off. Score! That was a good bit better than Circuit City, and it saved me from heading back over there. Sure, I could’ve pushed harder, or I could’ve shopped that price back to Circuit City, but I was anxious to get my weekend started, and wasn’t about to waste a ton of time in pursuit of a few additional dollars.

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Published on April 23rd, 2007 - 20 Comments
Filed under: Frugality

About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

20 Responses to “Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for a Discount, The Sequel”

1
Blaine Moore Says:
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Nice work; I would also have been perfectly happy with them knocking a fifth off of their price and undercutting what I had already determined to be an acceptable value on something. Saving you the time to wander back and forth was certainly worth the extra bit off and the lack of additional haggling, I think.
2
Sam Says:
April 23rd, 2007 at 4:13 pm
I did this with DirecTv, called them up after my bill went from $72 to $77 and asked them to lower the price. I explained that I was a long term customer but that I could (and would) switch to Comcast Digital b/c they were advertising a similar package for $50. DirecTv indicated that they were happy to have my business and that they wanted to keep me as a customer and lowered my package price to @ $50 a month for the next year (a savings of more than $300).
3
onewayORanother Says:
April 23rd, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Cool Beans!!!
4
savvy Says:
April 23rd, 2007 at 4:42 pm
I worked at Best Buy for five years, and the one thing I learned is that almost every price in that store is negotiable. We could wheel and deal on just about anything. Employees had a lot of power to make package prices and throw in extras… it’s just a matter of talking to the right employee (some are not comfortable with bargaining).
5
mapgirl Says:
April 23rd, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Well done! A lot of places have price matching or 30-day price adjustments, but that was awesome they were willing to beat the price just by asking.

I used to work at an Express and women would religiously come in for 30-day price adjustments. I try to stay away from the mall completely, but I suppose that’s another good reason to save your receipts. All we asked was to tender the difference in whatever currency was used to pay it. (Credit card, cash, etc.)
6
Chris Says:
April 23rd, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Bravo, good work! I have to say that years back, I never thought to ask for a discount on electronics. Then, a friend was buying a home entertainment system at Ultimate Electronics, and he asked for a discount. I thought, “They aren’t going to give you some discount, this isn’t some chop shop.” Sure enough, they gave him money off the deal.
7
Blain Reinkensmeyer Says:
April 23rd, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Nice one, and excellent usage of “Score!” right there Nickel, lol. 20% off a nice 50″ would have to save you some sick dough man, perhaps you got a plasma!?
8
Overwhelmed! Says:
April 24th, 2007 at 2:23 am
Great work! I would’ve never thought to ask for a discount at one of these retail stores. Thanks for the idea!
9
Blaine Moore Says:
April 24th, 2007 at 9:43 am
Thanks for the heads up, savvy. Maybe I’ll send some business best buy’s way next time I’m needing something to see what sort of deal I can get.

Probably not enough to make driving all the way over there worthwhile, though. Heheh.
10
Fellowes Says:
April 24th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Think of this another way. If Best Buy is willing to knock off %20 from the price just like that, knowing that they still make money, it makes you wonder just how much margin is built into the price. I would posit somewhere in the 30-40% range for the larger sizes.
11
nickel Says:
April 24th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Yes, but I’m a realist, and I know that they have to make money or they won’t stay in business. My goal is just to minimize the spread between their cost and mine.
12
Creditnine.com Says:
April 28th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
I will have to remember to try that I have usually just ended up getting the same price.
13
sfordinarygirl Says:
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:31 pm
I just read the post from last year when you bought a dehumidifier and I’m impressed with your bargaining!

I’ll keep that in mind the next time I’m shopping for something that Macy’s and Nordstrom both carry. Great tip!

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