As a small retailer I always dread when the media does a segment on this. We don't haggle, unless someone were to buy a REALLY large quantity of something. Which almost never happens.

Now, thanks to your segment once again we'll have to deal with all the husbands who get a kick out of giving retailers a hard time and trying to haggle on a $24.99 item.  We can't afford to do it because we get squeezed by the big boxed stores and the online shopping which you also recommend so readily.  

Fortunately, we are having a GREAT first quarter, unlike the doom and gloom you are reporting.  I would love to see a segment that actually benefits the small retailers and shows things from their point of view.  Now that would be something new and different!

Regarding: Do You Haggle?
Absolutely!
To the point of embarassment from my family...
Where I was seeking an "high five" slap of the hand my 12 year old daughter was walking away from me.
Explain:  
Store: Lowes
Item:  Fridge
Retail: $895.00
Paid:  $300.00
Story:
I was in need of a replacement fridge...
here in the middle of the isle with the discontinueds and clearance items was a beautiful black Side by Side fridge marked down to $595.00 originally $895.00
pretty good savings already....but I am a serious haggler and wanted more more more.
Lowes has department heads and department area managers and my success there was good. . . but I had a price in mind I would walk with MY new fridge (Whirlpool) brand.  At first the department workers couldn't even tell me how long the fridge had been in the ilse.. I try to find out how long it has been marked down for bargaining techniques.. I pursued with determination to at least get a Manager over, (my daughter getting the embarrasement face started already...) With a little time and waiting I got a Manager over.. I stated that the frige has been turned on and used showing a little mold spots in the bottom (he was entirely embarrassed at that point, but worked out for my advantage) and I got him down to $420.  He said thats the absolute lowest (He) could take without getting fired!  I digressed with well thats a great deal but... I was willing to pay $300.00 and softly walked away so as not to humilate him.... My husband was looking at fridges too but didn't realize I was negotiating on a bargin deal of a Lowes Lifetime... and I caught up with him as we walked down the exit ilse... I said I only wish I could find the Store Manager?  A store shopper stated thats him over there... Well thats all I needed to here and I stated to my daughter and hubby (watch this) and walked over to the Store Manager with the light intent of pointing out the little mildew and accual use of this fridge . . He gladly accompanied me over to the area (meantime the area Manager was cleaning out the little mildew spots) but the Store Manager saw what I was talking about and that caused him to soften on this item.  He said $350.00 and I was getting more excited that this fridge had my name on it... I digressed again and said Yes, thats a fabulous price but I was willing to pay $300.00 and take it with me today!
He turned to my husband and said "Your wife drives a hard bargain"  
DON'T YOU KNOW IT!
Well the sad part is I was looking for my High Five from my husband and or daughter but instead they were both embarrassed!  To my surprise my husband wouldn't even high five me.... Got to the register and the Cashier was astonished by the price he rang up, and FINALLY A HIGH FIVE!  
YEAH ME!

Do the customers that now feel empowered (by you) to come in an haggle for a better price in my store realize that they are actually asking me to take a cut in my pay?  I work 7 days a week, trying to keep my store afloat and pay my bills.  If there isn't enough left over at the end of the month to pay for the rent, electricity and payroll, there will be no store left to haggle with. What will end up happening is that stores will have to boost their margins in order to be able to haggle....

I'll be happy to give 10% off to any customer who shows me they will take a 10% reduction in their income to match what they are asking of me.  

By the way, when was the last time you agreed to a reduction in your income?

Haggling??? My question would be this:  Do you haggle at the hospital, dentists office, golf coarse. Do NBC advertisers haggle for better pricing?
As a small business owner I represent a very large segment of business owners throughout the United States that are struggling to make ends meet.  No haggling is not acceptible here as our prices are set as fairly as we can make them.  
  Nor do I haggle in any other small independant businesses I frequent as I know how difficult trying to keep a business alive is.  

As a small retailer, I get beat up on pricing all the time.  I don't have a high mark and we are basically being held up when people decide to haggle.  We try to price our product right the first time.  We have a competitor across the street that does a 3 time mark and will give anybody who asks a 25% discount.  Our like product is still less after the discount. It is demeaning when the haggleing starts.  Think about where the majority of your money is spent.  The grocery store and places like Wal-Mart and Target.  First of all you would be hard pressed to find any person in the store that knows their head from their elbow, let alone a manager.  Second good luck on trying to haggle down the grocery bill.  Yet if you come into my store once every 2 years you should get to rob me or loose a sale.  It is really pathetic, and the Today show just told everybody how stupid they are if they don't do it.

The only thing not mentioned in your segment was as a haggler you must be able to walk away if your price is not obtained . I see on the blog above that the person at Lowes did her haggling very well but if your price cannot be met you must be able to walk away without losing your haggling pride .

I can see from the messages above, just how UNPOPULAR your article on haggling is to us store owners. We work hard to find products that we can sell for a decent profit to cover our expeces and to live on. With all the extra expences involved to give our customers a great shopping experience, how can you possibly expect us to haggle and come down on our prices? That is like taking a pay cut. It comes right out of our pockets. I think you should write an article on how rude it is to haggle, to accept the price at full value and decide for yourself if it is worth it.

I would love to see a news story like thie tell the FULL story one of these days.  The truth of the matter is that most LARGE retailers up thier prices by 400-500%; thereby allowing themselves room for frequent sales and 'haggle room'.

HOWEVER, the typical small retialer (of which I am one) does not buy in such huge volume and does not have such a huge profit margin and thereby does NOT have room to haggle on prices.  

So, haggle away America.  You'll be haggling all your favorite small independent business owners out of business; leaving BIG business with no competition and no more reasons to 'work for your buying dollar'.

I truly believe that this 'haggling mentality' that the media so boldly promotes actually causes many businesses to RAISE their regular prices, just to allow for this haggling.  

As an independent retailer in the state of Florida, I found your segment on haggling to be insulting and degrading to those of us who work hard to run a reputable and honest business. One thing I have learned from 11 years in business, if you price your items well to begin with, you have satisfied customers. However, there is no room to haggle. Keep in mind the business owner, as well as the consumer is faced with insurance tripling in price over two years, a landlord who has raised rent 20% last year, workmans comp insurance, employee wages, the cost of health insurance, and STEALING from the customers.I just wished the Today show would do a segment on the cost of running a business and I am sure they would have thought twice about doing a "HAGGLING" segment.

To all the retailers that do not like the idea of customers haggling with them:  Simply do not haggle with them.  If you have an item or items that you can not afford to sell for less than the posted price, then do not haggle.  On the other hand, if you have an item that you are having trouble selling or excess stock, etc. then why not haggle?  Seems simple enough to me...

Good news small business owners: I do NOT like to haggle.  I don't have time.  I still want to be able to TRUST that you the seller are giving me a good deal.  I must be driven by the lowest price I can get thanks to my shrinking budget, but I believe more strongly in business loyalty and quality.  I'm more than happy to pay a few extra dollars if it means giving it to a local business (Maine has many more small businesses than not) than giving it to a big conglomerate who doesn't really care about my vested interest.  Buying local or from a small business usually means better service and a better guarantee for quality.  The only things I'm willing to haggle on are cars and houses, and the loans to pay for them.

to me, as a customer in every store i think that 'haggling' would be a great thing to do since the gas prices have gone through the roof up here $4.45 a gallon! even paying $3.50 is a savings in my pocket.

I am also an independent shop owner in Wisconsin.  I was astounded to hear The Today Show blatantly tell it's viewers to haggle on all of their purchases - never pay full retail again.

Has this show ever done a segment on small businesses?  Whether they're retail or not?  Do they actually know all of the hidden expenses that it takes to open your doors everyday?  

My business phone line is four times as expensive as my home for the same, exact service; I pay a "commercial" rate for my electricity (which is substantially more than for my home); all those free services banks offer to individuals are being paid by their commercial customers at such rates to cover those free services to those individuals.  There's personal property taxes (a tax only for commercial businesses), annual report fees, a minimum for worker's compensation (regardless if you only need an employee for the month of December or not).  Not only do we need insurance to cover the contents of our store, but liability, possibly products liability, and now an insurance to cover us against employee issues.

Do you honestly believe the telephone company, the bank, or the electric company (to name a few) are willing to lose money or haggle on their services to commercial businesses?  No, they continually find ways to increase those services to commercial customers, so they can offer free incentives to others!

A small business cannot tell their vendors that they are only willing to pay $X for their products - delivered, the way the big boxes do!  Our prices are set, we have to buy minimums that sometimes look daunting.  And right now if someone at The Today Show could tell me how to haggle with my vendors and shipping company to get my shipping costs of 30-63% reduced, I would greatly appreciate it!  To get better rates, the vendors insist that you buy more - thousands or tens of thousands more!

Most small retailers struggle at one time or another for various reasons.  Most are not making money hand over fist.  We do it because we love what we do, we love working with and helping our customers, and we do it more for gratification than money.  I have struggled with my new business of three years and have not taken a paycheck home in all that time.  I'm definitely not in it for the money!

However, if I was in a position to have stores all over the country, and have the buying power of the big boxes, I would guarantee that my prices would be lower than theirs.  My customers would still get free delivery, exemplary customer service, conversation, and an exquisitely wrapped gift each time they left my store!

Hello. I own a country gift shop in Hurricane, WV and shows like this really bother me. I agree with the other writer who says would someone go haggle at a doctor or dentist's office. You bet not! I think the idea of trying to get a seller to lower their price belongs in a flea market or similar facility where they are used to being asked if the marked price is negotiable. Please do not come in my nice gift shop and even think of asking me to lower my price. If I know you I may offer a small discount if you are buying alot but otherwise...please do that at an establishment that will offer this. We have a hard enough time keeping our heads above water with our economy! PH

My husband almost fell out of his seat this morning watching this segment!  I'm a stay-at-home mom and my husband is the only paycheck in the family.  He gets base pay plus commission.  Base pay doesn't cut it with 3 kids and gas well over $3/gallon.  When a customer haggles the price it isn't the retailer who suffers.  They make sure they get their money.  It's the employee who relies on the extra few dollars to make it to the next paycheck!

Well as a consumer I believe in buying goods at the lowest price possible.  So instead of haggling with a local retailer I'll just buy it online instead. Only a fool is going to pay 39.95 for a blu ray movie at FYE in the mall. I could get the same disk on Amazon for 18.95.

I'd rather support local businesses but sometimes its not the cost effective thing to do.  

haggling is good in certain places, like auctions, garage sales,yard sales, flea markets, car dealers. But in normal everyday purchases, no way, especially with small independent stores. I tried to haggle the price of gasoline with my ExxonMobil dealer today. I will not repeat what he said.

Most Mom and Pop stores don't operate on the high mark-ups that the large stores do, and can't afford to lower their prices.  Did it ever occur to the "Haggle Guru" that we can't get our insurance, electric, gas bills lowered because we don't want to pay what they charge us.  We charge fair market prices, work hard to make some of our own products (which we definitely do not get a huge mark-up on), and then have to be put on the spot by a person who doesn't want to pay our prices.  Perhaps you should take a look at the entire picture, and remember that we're the people who built this country.

I guess I do not call it haggling, I call it trying to save these days if I can.  With the economy strangling us to death, do we try to save ourselves or die.  The best thing to do is try to balance out what you don't have.  The government know what they are doing, getting richer on the little guys back.  I think we all know what is going on here.  Do we allow them to keep us in a hole or try to work together to save the middle class.  I doubt that will happen, greed is alive and well.  So haggle on to no avail.  We will all go under with this system.

What an irresponsible message to send to the consumer.  As many have stated before, I, too, am an independent retailer.  When someone asks me for a 10% discount on that $20 candle, I look at that $2.00 as a gallon of milk.  Take $10 off of my $75 table? Sure - I'll cut my part-timer's payroll by 2 hours.

If people want to haggle, they should shop at flea markets where it is priced into the pricing structure.  I've had so many customers tell me that "XYZ Store" has that same item at 10% off.. what they don't tell me is that XYZ is 20% higher than me every day.. some people DESERVE the 'bargains' they get.

I've definitely obtained discounts on items that weren't on sale before.  I wouldn't necessarily say I "haggled", but rather I pointed out a flaw in the item - such as a tear that would require mending.  Usually, the salesperson will give 10% off - they know that item will most likely end up on the clearance rack anyway.

Having been in Mexico numerous times I should be able to haggle but frankly I can't. I'm too embarrassed by doing it. I shouldn't be but I am. As a store owner I have been haggled with and given the deal only to keep the customer. But I lost money on the deal. Small businesses can't compete with the big box chains but the perception seems to be that they are more likely to lower the price.

"I'll be happy to give 10% off to any customer who shows me they will take a 10% reduction in their income to match what they are asking of me.  
By the way, when was the last time you agreed to a reduction in your income?"

Well I got a 7% raise last year, and yet prices have gone up by FAR more than that since than. Now I have a 100% LOSS of income but that is another story.

That said, I am not a haggler and would be embarassed to do it, though it is a great idea.  Everything is overpriced no matter where you shop.

Your Today Show writers are very unaware of how
many employees of large businesses are paid--
often on commission based on their sales.  
The United States does not operate as they do
in the Middle East or Asia, or even South America.
There it is expected to haggle, because prices are
set artificially high. Understand this--if a price is haggled down in the United States, it will often come
out of the pocket of the employee, not the big company.  Thus if you haggle down price, it may mean
that the sales person ends up working for minimum
wage.  You are not "sticking it to" the large
company, you are "sticking it to" the employee, who
can probably ill afford the hit.  It is a sad state
of America when we have so little concern for our
fellow Americans that we hurt the sales person in
order to gratify our desire for a cheap deal.  
If we complain about poor service in stores, maybe
we should look at ourselves as partly responsible.
Perhaps the Today Show should look at all sides
and present more balanced reporting.

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