For a long time, I had wished to purchase a high quality designer suit from one of the boutiques at a shopping mall near our home. However, I lacked enough money to purchase the suit. Being keen to acquire the suit, I saved over a four months period to have enough to money to purchase the suit. I actually never visited the boutique but relied on their online catalogue. It was on their website that I identified the suit and its supposed price. I was thus quite clear in my mind on the amount I had to raise so that I would be in a position to finally own one of the pieces of clothing which I had desired for a long time. Around the same time when I had raised enough money to buy the suit, the boutique advertised in the local dailies that it had a sale during the last Saturday of the month. The terms of the sale were that there was going to be a fifteen percent discount on all the products offered by the boutique. I was quite elated as it appeared that fate had conspired to ensure that I get the suit this time round.
On the material day, I went to the boutique, armed with my cash and brimming with confidence that I would finally get to acquire my suit. Little did I know that it would turn out to be one of the most invaluable experiences in my life as far as understanding the bargaining process is concerned. Upon arriving at the boutique, I promptly headed for the section where the suits were placed. I was quite clear in mind of the suit I wanted. Having checked on the boutique’s website too, I was double sure that the money I had would be enough to purchase the suit. This was hardly the case.
As I walked across the aisle in the suits section, I was unable to locate the suit I had seen in the website. Subsequently, I asked one of the boutique attendants for help in locating the suit but she gave me a response that left me quite baffled. She stated that the images they use on their website are just representations of the products that they sell at the boutique. She further stated that identifying a product on their website would not necessarily mean that I would find it at the boutique once I made the actual physical visit to the boutique. I was slightly disappointed but with the wide variety of suits available at the boutique, I was quite sure I would be able to get one which I would buy.
After taking some time going through the suits at the boutique, I identified a suit which I thought I liked. However, upon checking the price, I discovered that its cost was slightly above the money I had. However, I did a quick mental calculation and established that with the fifteen percent discount some tough bargaining, I would be able to acquire the suit. From the very onset, I found the price to be too high. I had thought that the price I had seen in the website was among the highest for their products but it turned out that this was not the case. I learnt that there were various factors which determined the prices of the various products available. Among these were the size and material used to make the suit. This was not information that was readily available in the website. I thus braced myself for some serious bargaining if I were to ultimately go home with the suit.
The boutique’s regulations allowed for one to negotiate directly with any of the boutique assistants. My assumption was that there was a rule as to far how they could allow in terms of bargaining. After all, most organizations give their employees some room in dealing with the organization’s clients provided it is within the rules and regulations of the organization. I thus engaged the attendant at the suit section who as an agent of the boutique owner, had full authority to engage me in any bargaining negotiations. I started by noting that the boutique had advertised that on that particular day, all the products at the boutique were on a sale at a fifteen percent discount. However, he responded by politely letting me know that the prices that had been fixed on the various products that day had already incorporated the fifteen percent discount. I thus hard no option but to use my last card on the table which was to bargain hard. I had to find a way of getting the attendant to shove off some forty dollars so that the suit could be within my price range.
I initially started by telling the attendant that what I had was one hundred dollars less than the price that they had marked for the suit I had identified. I sought to establish if he would be agreeable to reducing the price by one hundred dollars. His response was an emphatic no. He gave a number of reasons why he could not slash the price by one hundred dollars. First, he informed me that that would significantly affect the profit margin he would earn from the suit and make it almost negligible. He further stated that such type of suits as the one I had selected cost much more than what the boutique actually offered and that the price at the boutique was the best deal I could get for such a suit anywhere. I was still keen on getting him to slash the price by one hundred dollars and, therefore, told him about the price I had seen on their website of an almost similar suit. He responded by stating that the prices of the two differed because the suit which I had physically identified at the boutique was bigger than the one whose price I had seen on the internet. Different suit sizes sold for different prices and thus the higher price.
I made a second offer to buy the suit if he would slash fifty dollars off from its marked price. However, the attendant still maintained his position and repeated his concerns about the margin. He however told me that he could slash ten dollars from the marked price of the suit and that he would not allow any further reduction of the price beyond that. It seemed like I had a hit a dead end. It was becoming increasingly clear, that there was a particular minimum price beyond which the suit could not be sold however much I bargained. My final offer of buying it at forty dollars less than the price which had been marked equally fell flat and now it was clear that I was going to leave the suit behind. With the benefit of hindsight, I believe that one of the reasons that made the boutique attendant stick to a higher price is that he must have established that I was very closely attached to that suit. He must have established that if I had the money, then I would have taken it at whatever price. Indeed, establishing a customer’s attachment to a particular product is significant in the bargaining process. It will more often than not determine how good a bargain the customer gets. I discovered that as a bargainer, my overt display of attachment to the suit could have cost me a better bargain. I learnt that as much as possible, one must try to musk their feelings of attachment to a product they intend to buy if they want to get a good bargain. Any failure to do this will be detected by the seller who will hold the customer ‘ransom’ by demanding a higher price. In essence, the customer will be a captive of his own attachment to the product. Presented with the same opportunity again, I would bargain in a totally different way. Essential among these would entail showing total detachment to the product that I intend to buy. I would set out to ensure that the seller gets the impression that this is a product that I can do without. I believe that such an approach will put me in a better position in the bargaining process.
References
Libow, R. N. (2008). The Art of Bargaining. New York: JHU Press.
Muthoo, A. (2008). Bargaining Theory With Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
