Pro tip: haggling at a garage sale is actually rude in some neighborhoods

I tried negotiating down a $5 desk to $3 at a sale in Oak Park last Saturday and the homeowner gave me this look like I kicked her dog. Learned the hard way that some people price things low just to get rid of them, not to play games. Is there a line between fair negotiating and just being cheap?

2 comments

2 Comments

alicec8610d ago

Is buying something at the price listed really that big of a deal? I mean, if the desk was five bucks and the person clearly just wanted it gone, haggling over two dollars kind of sends the message that you think their stuff is junk. I get that negotiating is part of the fun for some people, but Oak Park is definitely one of those neighborhoods where folks are more about friendly selling than flea market bartering. If you really wanted to save a couple bucks, you could've just asked "would you take four?" instead of jumping straight to three. That might have come off less like you were trying to win a game and more like you were being reasonable.

cameron_chen10d ago

Yeah @alicec86, I once had someone haggle me down 50 cents, felt like they were insulting me.