How to Negotiate Anything

Medical Bills

Consider this: To maintain cash flow, “many doctors will knock 5 or 10 percent off if you pay up front,” says Rocky Fredrickson, M.D., a former chief medical officer for Providence Health and Services. Uninsured patients can get even bigger discounts (“50 percent or more,” says Martin Bashir, M.D., a gastroenterologist in Washington, D.C.) for procedures that doctors and dentists usually bill to health plans, because medical practitioners are used to getting less than full price from insurance companies. “The discounted rate doctors give a patient is still far better than what an insurance company pays,” Bashir says.

Uncovered Repairs

Consider this: “Companies don’t always charge for repairs after the warranty has expired,” says Patrick Griffin, a senior manager of services for Dell, in Round Rock, Texas. Common problems might not require a recall but may be so prevalent that a company will fix the glitch for free.
 
Try this: Enter the full name of the product (“Brand X digital camera M16”) and the problem (“cracked view screen”) into a search engine to find chat rooms where people have discussed similar troubles and learn what the company has done for them. Call the returns department, not customer service, to talk to someone who can authorize a free repair or a replacement. Tell them you’re loyal to the brand, but that you’ve seen online evidence of widespread issues with the product.

Home Repairs and Improvements

Consider this: Comparing bids from several contractors will give you some leverage with the one you’d like to hire.
 
Try this: Get three to five bids, and be clear about the products you want to use. If your preferred contractor is at the high end, say so and offer to show him the other bids. He may adjust his price. When hiring a plumber or a tradesman for a small job, ask him to break down his price into labor and materials. About 35 percent should be materials and 65 percent labor, says Al Paxton, a construction estimator in Malibu, California. If the ratio seems wrong, say so. But be diplomatic. “If you squeeze him too hard, he might give you less than first-class workmanship and use less expensive materials,” Paxton says.

Online Purchases

Consider this: You can’t haggle online. But there are websites (such as shopzilla.com, froogle.com, and nextag.com that track and compare Internet prices for products and direct you to the best bargains. They also rate the sellers based on customer reviews.

Try this: To squeeze the price even further, call a regular store that stocks the product and ask that store to match the best price you saw advertised online. “We are very likely going to drop our price to beat another reputable dealer,” says Abe Brown, director of advertising for J&R Music and Computer World, in New York City. (You can find a list of authorized dealers by contacting the product’s manufacturer or going to its website.)

Chain-Store Items

Consider this: The salesclerks at chain stores generally don’t have the authority to give you a discount, but a manager does.
 
Try this: If you’re buying a big-ticket item ($200 or more), ask a manager for a discount, says Eugene Fram, a professor of marketing at the Rochester Institute of Technology, in Rochester, New York. If you’ve seen the item in the store for a while, say so. Some stores have codes on price tags that will show the manager how long the product has been on the floor. “The longer it has been hanging around, the better the deal you can get,” says Fram. For smaller purchases, ask a clerk if she knows when the item is likely to go on sale, or ask her to call you when it is marked down. You could also tell the cashier you forgot the coupon from the weekly circular. He will probably have an extra.

Mom-and-Pop Store Items

Consider this: Whenever you’re buying from the owner―or someone with direct access to the owner―discounts are easier to get than in chain stores. “The boss has the power to make decisions, he knows his bottom line, and he knows the value of making a sale and establishing good rapport with a customer,” says Fram.

Try this: Explain to the store’s owner that you’re a local customer (if you are) and that you like shopping at independent retailers and coming back to a merchant you know. Mention what the big-box stores are charging for the same item and ask the independent retailer if he will match the price―or at least come close. If the owner can’t budge on price, ask for free delivery for bigger items.

A Cell Phone

Consider this: Your opportunity to haggle over cell-phone minutes and features isn’t when you’re signing up for a new plan. “You’ll start getting sales calls a couple of months before your contract runs out, but don’t bite,” says telecommunications attorney Art Neill.
 
Try this: Wait until your contract is about to run out, then call the company’s customer-service department. “Their job is to keep you in the fold, and they’ll probably throw some extras your way to do it,” says Neill. Tell them exactly what you want in terms of a new phone, minutes, and features, based on research you’ve done about what other companies are offering, and they may stretch the rules to get you to renew. It’s always worth talking to a supervisor if others can’t help.