Negotiating Prices

It's a Buyer's Market. Haggle by Bob Tedeschi at CNN.com shares that it may benefit consumers to negotiate prices in areas such as mortgage fees, cell phone service, cable/telephone/Internet services, health club, and consumer goods (e.g. electronics and clothing). I'm always game for negotiating prices, especially if I pay cash. Recently, however, I've found that I don't even need to negotiate to get lower prices.

Here's my recent experience with Internet and health club providers:

Internet service. My Internet provider recently contacted me and offered to reduce the monthly fee. What a pleasant surprise.

Health clubs. Recently, we've been considering joining a health club to take advantage of classes that we normally take, e.g. yoga. I've toured a few health clubs and all are offering discounts of the administrative fee and occasionally, a discount in the monthly fee. When I miss the deadline for the "special," they call me back with new "special" that is usually better than the previous one.

I think it's a great time to negotiate with providers where there is lots of competition or where demand is low. However, some businesses in our area (e.g. top home repair companies) seem to have more business than normal and do not need to offer discounts.

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This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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