5 Things You Never Thought Were Negotiable

Published January 28th, 2008

I’m excited because today’s post is about one of my favourite topics–saving money! I get the same high from saving money as some people do from spending it. One place where you have the potential to really come out on top is on a big purchase. Now we all think about negotiating on things like buying a car, or making an offer on a house…but there are some other gold mines for savings that you may have not thought about…until today! This is a longer article so if you’re short on time, you may want to print it out, or bookmark it to read later.

Before we get to the juicy part, let’s think about four factors that are essential to succeeding in this type of negotiation: Doing your homework, finding a salesperson or vendor that is willing to work with you, creating competition for your business, as well as being polite but ready to walk away.

Doing your homework

In order to save big, some effort is required. Read up on what item(s) or service(s) you want to buy. Know the features and benefits, the most common price range for what service or product they are offering, and read up on the business before you visit them. If you can, set up an appointment. Find out if there is a time of the day, week, month, or year that there is less of a demand for what you want, because less demand equals more room for you to negotiate.

Finding a salesperson or vendor that will negotiate with you

In the service industry almost all things are negotiable–it just depends whether they are willing to. Whenever possible, talk to a manager or owner–who have the authority to negotiate. For any one major item or service you want to purchase, it’s a good idea to look up at least 5 businesses. By making preliminary phone calls or emails you’ll find out pretty quickly whether or not they even offer exactly what you want. Once you have narrowed it down to 3 candidates, sit down with them and tell them exactly what it is you’re looking for (remember…you’ve already done your homework so you have increased confidence in yourself). Be honest and tell them that cost is an important factor here, but you are a detail oriented person, and you’re not just looking for the least expensive business, you’re looking for someone that will work with you. If they seem receptive to this then you will know immediately, and you can listen to what they are willing to do for you, or take a look at their quote.

Create competition for your business

So at this initial meeting, don’t sign a contract. Thank them for their time, politely let them know you have a couple of more appointments to see, and let them know that you will get back to them in the near future. It’s okay though if you want to put a no obligation or courtesy hold on a date or product until you make a decision–as long as it doesn’t cost you anything and you don’t have to sign. Next, give them a bit of time to sweat it out. Review the pros and cons of all your quotes. Rank who you would like to work with the most and will give you the best value. One tactic that often works is to send out mass email to the 3 businesses asking if they offer a discount or term on a certain thing. For example: Do they give a discount for floor models, and what is their policy? This is a valid question, but they will see that you are still interested and also that they have competition–if they really want your business they will court you.

Be ready to walk away

Once you’ve decided who you want to work with, call them first. Tell them that you would like to go with them, but you do have just a couple more questions first. Now is the time to bring it up anything else you want, since you have them hooked on wanting your business. Repeat back to them the details like price, date, terms etc., and if they agree, go in to review the contract. If everything is agreeable then sign, if not, be very polite, thank them so much for their time, and walk away. One of two things will happen: 1) You will walk away, and go to your number two choice, or 2) They will chase you and give you what you want, or find a reasonable compromise.

Now…on to the main event.

5 things you never thought were negotiable…

1. Your bed

No, maybe not very exciting to some, but sleeping well is highly under-rated and very important to your health and well being. A lot of people look at buying a bed as just one of those things you have to buy, and don’t think to negotiate. My friends, mattresses have one of the biggest mark-ups in the furniture industry! Take the time to pick a brand and model that you like by testing them out, then shop around as above. You would be very surprised to find out how willing those store owners or commissioned salespeople are to get your business. I wrote a bit about this in 25 Ways to Save Money, but after Christmas last year we walked into a popular mattress store and got the Tempur-Pedic mattress we wanted for $1000 off the retail price. How? We met a very motivated salesperson who found us a floor model that had been only used in a showroom for a few days, had it professionally cleaned, delivered for free, removed our old mattress for charity, and even threw in a high quality mattress protector that we selected. Oh, and by the way…we also negotiated to not pay a penny for a whole year with no service fees. The year was up last week, and I payed the whole thing off in full!

2. Your funeral

Maybe this sounds a little bit morbid, but it is very true. Last I heard, an average funeral can cost $10,000. I have an extended family member who is in the funeral business. Funeral homes have packages that they offer to people, but they are just suggestions, and often the person you talk to would be more than happy to work with you. This is a tough thing to put on your loved ones. A lot of people now are pre-planning their funerals, not only to save those they love from having to deal with one more thing after they are gone, but to have it their way, and save on future expenses. There is money to be saved in choosing the things you want and don’t want for your funeral, and paying for it in today’s dollars. Even if you don’t officially pre-plan, it’s a really good idea to talk about what you want with those you love, and then appoint someone in your inner circle to help take care of funeral arrangements…and negotiations. This takes the pressure and stress off of those closest to you, who may wrestle with honouring you the best way they can versus putting themselves in a difficult financial situation.

3. Your Wedding

You only get married once (we all hope for this…), but that isn’t an excuse to get robbed by the wedding industry. If you think about it, your wedding should be a celebration or your love, with an appropriately themed party afterwards. Just because you throw the word “wedding” in front of it, it doesn’t mean the price automatically has to go up. I will write a whole series of articles on how I saved over $8000 on my own wedding in the future. The message here is that there is much room to negotiate, but it depends on who you are. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of great wedding-related vendors out there whose expertise they rightfully bill for, but there are others who are not so reasonable. You can save the most dollars on your wedding by doing a lot of research and planning, doing a lot of the work yourself, negotiating well (as above), and being open minded and creative. Figure out what theme and feel you want for your wedding, and find a way to make it happen–on your terms. Your wedding is supposed to be a reflection of you and your partner, so don’t let it become about what everyone else thinks, and what “wedding package” they are offering you. Many vendors offer great rates for conferences, parties, small family gatherings, reunions etc, but charge more for weddings. There’s no good reason why you shouldn’t be able to get the same rates or better for your special day.

4. Your mortgage

Your home will likely be the single biggest investment you ever make. You may have negotiated a good price on the house itself, but there are a lot of other costs that can make a big difference in what you spend. First off, you can always do better than the posted rate at the banks, and probably even better than what your personal banker offers. Even if you have a long term relationship with your banker, they understand that you are going to see what’s out there. You may not end up getting your mortgage through a broker, but you should visit a couple of them and see what they have to offer with interest rates and terms. In the very least, this will increase your negotiating power with your financial institution. They can usually match what the broker comes up with. Depending on where you live, there are different closing costs when buying a home. House sales are usually pretty standard transactions and many lawyers do them–but the prices vary greatly, and some will even charge a flat fee. Also, if a broker charges a fee, you may be able to get it waived or reduced. The most important thing here is to find out what all of the costs are with your particular house deal and go through them one by one to see what is negotiable. One other tip if you live in Canada: Pay any mortgage insurance up front, instead of having it added to your mortgage and paying twice as much in the long term.

5. Your landscaping

Things like walkways, patio decks, fences, and gardens fall into this category. Figure out what you want by looking in magazines, library books, TV shows, or online and follow the negotiating steps suggested above. The big difference here is that they will come to your home to give you the quote. You may get a better deal if you book during a quiet time of the year. Plants, trees and shrubs often go on deep discount in the fall. You may want to hire them for doing only part of your landscaping job. For example, we had a contractor dig the post-holes, cement in the posts, and do the gate for fencing in our backyard, but we did the rest with the help of our family and neighbours.

The biggest thing I’ve learned over the last couple of years with getting married and building our first home, is that you can be polite, and still get what you want–you just have to find the right match for your needs. Best of luck with your negotiations!

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