Haggling

Haggling in an American chain store? No way! But according to this, things have changed. It's part of the recession there.

The America in which I grew up considered haggling rather low, something you did when touring primitive countries, like Israel.

In Israel it's not done every place. When I worked as a salesperson, I could only offer special rates when instructed by the boss.

Remembering how it felt as an employee, I rarely haggle, unless it's made clear that I'm expected to, like when buying major appliances. There are certain code words and a reluctance to give an exact price.

A couple of years ago, when I was buying a few basic skirts, I felt forced to haggle. I wanted to buy three of them, and there was a special if you got two, the second being 30% off, making each of the two 85% of the base price. I was told that I couldn't get a discount off of the third, since there wasn't a fourth. OK, I understood that they wanted two bought and not just one, but did they really prefer two to three? I'm a CPA's daughter and a remedial teacher, and believe me it took all those genes and skills to convince the salesgirl that she was going against policy if she refused the discount on the third, because I would choose only two. It wasn't a big discount, but it was a principle.

They should have offered an even larger discount on the third and subsequent; then I may have tried to choose a fourth!