Negotiation Tips and Tricks

The following discussion was conducted due to discussing lesson 4 Conversation 6, Do We Have A Deal? As a review and ice breaker (there were only few students attend the class), the students made tips and tricks for bargaining in traditional market; such as Johar market in Semarang, Malioboro- Jogya, Sukowati-Bali, etc. there were some groups that came up with some brilliant ideas as follows:

1. Come to the sellers who have a lot of stuff to sell. There will be a lot of things to browse, to see, and of course to bargain.
2. Start bargaining from the half price offered by the sellers. Take an example: if the seller offers Rp. 50.000, as the customer, we can start bargaining from Rp. 25.000 or even Rp.20.000
3. Ask friends if they need the same item so we can go together, considering that the more item the cheaper the item will be.
4. Know the market price. If possible, try to survey the price among the sellers.
5. Pretend not to get too attracted to the item you are bargaining since the seller will not come down a bit. Show plain expression.
6. Use local language if possible. Take an example if you go shopping in Semarang, speak Javanese is suggested. If you can’t, ask someone who can speak local language to bargain for you (much better if he/ she is good at negotiating, too)
7. Persuade the sellers delicately, if necessary, praise the seller (it works well especially for opposite sex between seller and customer)
8. Ask for bonus if we agree to the price offered by the seller without bargaining (get the item we want but we expect to get more than just the item).
9. If all fails, pretend to leave the seller. Walk away slowly, expecting to be called by the seller. If the seller doesn’t call us, try to get the same item in different seller. Return the same seller is the last option.

However, stating the tips and tricks doesn’t mean the students have applied all of them. Well, feel free to try some tips and tricks above. Good luck!!!