In the US and Canada, we tend to buy without considering the fact that there is an option to negotiate, whereas in other cultures there is an expectation that one does.Read more here.
Beyond the business aspects of this, as Consumer Reports points out, you can negotiate everyday, for almost everything. I've negotiated down my cable rates, my phone rates, my Internet rates, just by asking how important my business was to these companies. I also ask for some type of discount when I purchase clothing (which is probably far too often!) particularly if I'm a regular customer. I ask how important it is to this store to retain my loyalty.
In regards to loyalty, I have also recently written to my bank which has both my personal and business accounts. I am always disturbed when corporations have special promotions to get "new" clients, but take their current and loyal clients for granted. Seeing one promotion which gave new customers an iPod for switching their business to the bank, I wrote an email, asking what they were going to do for existing and loyal customers.
After a couple of emails (never accept the first response) I received $200 credited to my bank account. Not bad for a 1/2 hours work.
Everything is negotiable. You just have to ask!
One of the things I like about Wal-Mart is that they will match prices of competitors. I keep a list of current grocery prices of Wal-Mart's competitors, because I eat lots of fresh produce. My local Wal-Mart happily matches those prices, saving me the extra trips to shop at competitors. Smart business move by Wal-Mart!
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