Negotiating when thrifting is an art. Depending on the store’s policy you can score some pretty fab pieces at a nice discount. But it can be sort of scary right? Like, what if they say NO! I will be referring to this game A LOT in the Epic Room Makeover posts so I thought I would kick the tutorials off with the most important/awkward one first.
How to play Lets Make A Deal.
Now don’t get me wrong, I can hold my own when it comes to wheelin and dealin but when there is a little something called peer pressure it takes it to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. My partners in crime are my girls Mia and Jilly
Rule 1. Know their policy. If you are going into a store that you know will not negotiate its sort of a waste of time to try. If you are going into an Estate/Yard Sale or a store that will negotiate then go in ready!
Rule 2. Don’t discredit their price offensively. No one wants to hear that what they are selling is a piece of crap and that you would never be caught dead paying that much (even if that is how you feel).
Rule 3. If they even entertain the lower the price a little then you know that negotiations have begun. Had Randy said “The door is $75, I cant go down at all, its our policy.” Then it would have been much harder. The Restore in St. George doesn’t negotiate AT. ALL. Buuuut because Randy went down on the price and didn’t say anything about a policy it was ON.
Poor guy, he had no idea what he was up against.
Rule 4. The key to Let’s Make a Deal is bundling. It works for your phone/internet/cable and it is CRUCIAL to getting Randy/Todd/Helen to drop the price.
Rule 5. Have FUN! People are WAY more likely to give you a deal if they like you! Use their name, find out a little bit about them, make friends!
This is a real life situation that we recorded so you guys could see how it went down.
Meet poor unsuspecting Randy the employee at Restore who had the privilege of helping us lock down the price for our sliding barn door.
There was a sign posted that said “Solid Core Doors $35.00”. Well this door was solid core, so in our minds it was priced at $35.00. Randy was not amused. He said that the price of the door was between $75-$100. We explained to him that the door was with the sign that said “Solid Core Doors $35.00”. He then explained to us that that sign was for doors that were normal height and that our door was 8ft tall. He said he would go down to $65.
In Randy’s case, we bundled the door with a canvas that we really liked that Randy wanted to get rid of. The total offer was $60 and he was getting us out of his store. I mean how could he say no?
Up next is Serg. He owns a small Estate Sale in a storage unit in downtown Phoenix. In this video we took 2 end tables from $100 to $15 each. Bam. You may need to turn your volume up for this video.
So do you have any tips to add to the Lets Make A Deal rules?
Check out the other posts in the Epic Room Makeover 2012 Series:
How To Build A Simple Sliding Barn Door
Love Your Guts, Mandi
Poor guys.....they had no idea what was coming. :) I love to haggle but I like to be respectful too, you guys are cute as buttons!
ReplyDeletehahaha!!! You guys are out of control! I've only watched the first video and I already had to comment... miss you girls!!
ReplyDeleteYou guys are adorable. And I am insanely jealous of your Habitat Restore. We have three in my areas and none are THAT nice. So fun!!
ReplyDeleteThat is so dang cool! I am always too scared! I need some partners in crime to do it with me!
ReplyDeleteIt is always easier with another person or two! Then you can always give that other person the "ehhh..." scrunch up the nose look when the price is too high...I swear body language helps in the negotiations, too! :)
ReplyDeleteCute videos! Thanks for sharing!
~Jillian
Teapots & What-Nots
I always keep different bills in different pockets.... SOOO if they tell me It is 20 bucks I will pull out a five in my 'five pocket' make them the deal and most the time works like a CHARM! I once saw a lady with a fisherman's vest on with all the fancy pockets... She was doing the same thing! Haha!
ReplyDeleteHahaha, I went to an estate sale not too long ago ( I know, different than our beloved thrift stores), and I counter offered an item and she bad the nerve to huff, "you've got chutzpah!" and she said it not in a good way. Love it ! You never know until you try, right????
ReplyDeleteSerena
Thrift Diving
LOL These videos are so awesome. I actually just went to a Restore thrift store for the first time yesterday. They aren't going to be happy when I go back and offer less on a few things. ;) I found some of their prices were great, but as soon as they thought they had an "antique" or retro piece it was way too high!
ReplyDeleteOh my word - you guys are incredible! I'm hooorible at making offers and everything that goes with it. So hard for me to do. Someone said it earlier in the comments - it makes so much sense to bring someone with you! You can play off of each other. Now I'm inspired to go give it a try!
ReplyDeleteGetting caught up on posts. Oh.My. haha Poor, poor Randy. Did Mia say she was going to give him a "booty tickle?" !! So fun.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it's fun to watch your mental wheels turning. xo