[b]Haggling is an art. Here are a few hints for you to peruse and ponder and places to try them out for yourself without wanting the ground to swallow you up with embarrasment[/b]. Simple rules for all forms of haggling: Don't be aggressive or unfriendly - you may win the haggle but getting the price down too low and they may cut back on the service they deliver or quality of goods. Haggle nicely and thyey'll be polite, remain comfortable withb the deal and you may do business with them again in future :) [b]Types of haggling[/b]. I feel there is more to the haggle than just bickering over prices. There are types of haggling. [i]Shop Till You Drop Haggling [/i]- you look round a shop, you see an almighty item of lushness (no, don't try to buy the cute sales assistant and definetly don't touch him / her please), You see it's price tag is either hidden or missing. Remember the rule 'if it's not priced then it's too expensive'? This was your parents way of stopping you have items you desired as a child so forget it and proceed to either find the price tag or ask. When asking for a price on something unmarked, the shop owner more often than not may assess how much you can afford to pay. Are you carrying a designer handbag? High heeled shoes? Jeans, wellies and a rainmac? It pays at this point to try and ensure that your appearance does not give away how rich / broke you actualy are. If they cannot tell, they'll place it mid-range price still leaving you room to haggle. So you take the item of lushness and look at it again but not too lovingly, if the shop owner thinks you really want it they will stick to their price knowing you'll find a way to pay it. So no declaring how amazing it is to find such a gem, just keep it casual. Ask calmly and politely what the best price they can do is then stay silent. Keep your purse in your hand but closed. If they offer you a fair price then pay. If they don't then open your purse, say you have £x and are happy to pay that cash if they can accept it but ensure this offer is reasonable or they may get irritated and throw you out of the shop. Smile and pay or give up and run away :D Places to try this are boot sales, independant shops, antique fares etc. I would not recomment attempting to haggle in Tesco after they've scanned your shopping, charity shops, high street stores or cash machines. You wont win. No matter how hard you try to convince the machine / checkout person to give you a discount or more money, they will look at you in disbelief and call for re-inforcements to throw you out. If you do decide to haggle in Tesco, please ensure it's near a cctv camera so that we can all watch you on the news later :) [i]Service Haggling [/i]- This is when you want to book your flowers, your venue, your cars etc. The key here is to consider a few things about the way the price goes up when you mention the word 'wedding'. For example, if you book all the rooms at a posh hotel and book dinner in the evening, do they charge you a hire charge for the restaurant? If you order flowers to be delivered to a friend, do they charge more than usual to arrange the flowers? It's all about perception. At my venue, they charge a room hire charge, the room is the main restaurant. I am booking all the rooms in the hotel. If it were not me booking but other guests, would they be charged a hire charge for the portion of the restaurant they eat in? It's this and other little tricks that are your avenue to haggle fairly. I would suggest looking at packages the venue offers, go away and replace the items with things you want ideally and then put it to the venue that they reduce / match the price accordingly. Services are harder to haggle over purely because you are reliant on them to do a good job, if you annoy them, they can screw up your day. Be friendly but fair. Things like cakes and chair hire come under this catagory also but again remember - be fair and you have every chance of winning the haggle. [i]Dress-me-up Haggling [/i]- So you've found the perfect dress. Ensure the shop assistant does not see you check the price tag before trying it so you can appear amazed later. To get a good deal on a dress you may be lucky but most likely, they will know you are in love with it and stick to a high profit margin level. I would recommend trying on almost every dress in the shop. Twice perhaps. Then go back to the one you want and see the ridiculous price tag, be a bit upset and threaten to try on all the others again with a miserable face. Do not be afraid to walk out of the shop with nothing, you can always go back later and say you've managed to get the extra cash to buy it. Offer a fair price (I do not consider 15% reduction to be unfair given the huge mark ups on wedding dresses). Say honestly it is your ideal dress and you will buy it if they can agree the price within your budget. Ask the best price they can offer as you only have £x to spend which has to include a veil / tiara / comb / shoes / champagne to celebrate the haggle. A good shop assistant will understand your plight and if your offer is realistic may accept. Also worth writing down from the label the make and model of the dress - don't ask the asistant as they give you a different ref number to stop you being able to look it up on the net! Then call round other places and ask them if they can agree your price. You'll be pleasantly suprised how successful this is! Points to remember: Be fair and realistic. Your offer should reflect the quality and quantity of the product or service. You'd be gutted to spend hours making something and be offered a few pounds. Be smiley and polite but firm - you make the offer, you shut up and wait for the response no matter how long it takes. Don't show how interested you are in an item. Do show how appreciative / interested you are with services such as flowers. Be middle-of-the-road with venues, say you have others to see and compare but do not under any circumstances tell them prices you've been offered or where you are viewing. Don't be afraid to fail. As long as you adhered to the above points, you'll be seen only as a savvy bride trying to sort her big day rather than a tight cowbag who doesn't appreciate the efforts / quality of the thing you're haggling over. Remember it' a haggle not a hustle! Enjoy :)
