It's officially a buyer's market on the high street, so now is the time to ditch your British reserve (if you had any in the first place) and to start haggling.
by Lucy Searle
4Homes Essentials
Property Search
UK Region Ratings
Yes, so called 'souk Britain' has arrived, with major high street stores willing - although no doubt not officially - to negotiate discounts off a range of goods in order to stop buyers going elsewhere.
We'll be looking at this in more detail in the next couple of weeks, but if you're planning a bit of high street shopping this weekend, here are my top tips to be starting with:
If you know what you're looking for already, research on the internet what other stores - and online sellers - are selling your intended buy for - that gives you ammunition when you go in store to get more money off.
Throw away your reserve and ask for a discount when you get to the till.
Try to ensure there isn't a huge queue behind you. If there is a queue at the till, ask one of the floor staff and negotiate your discount before you get to the till.
If the person serving you isn't sure or says no, ask politely if the manager - or department manager - is around, then try them.
If they say no, smile sweetly, and say, 'come on, surely you can do something for me, I've got the cash right here in my hand' (or something similar).
If they still say no but you are happy to persist, do so, quoting the price that the online seller or someone else further up the high street is selling for. You'll find that if you're polite, confident and relaxed about it, you'll often get what they'll call a one-off, discretionary discount.
Does the buy have extras you could get for free? If you're buying a laptop, for example, and haven't managed to get a discount, maybe there's a bag that goes with it that you could ask for instead of a discount? If it's a bed, perhaps the shop will throw in a free mattress cover? Whatever you're buying, it pays to be both imaginative and cheeky in equal measure.
Didn't get the discount? Ask if they'll throw in free delivery if it's a big buy - you might save yourself £25 on that alone. Did get the discount? You've got nothing to lose by asking for free delivery as well...
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