Using sites that let you haggle or negotiate

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Negotiating

Wouldn't it be nice if you could haggle prices on something besides a car? Well, now you can, thanks to Negotiating sites.

These sites may differ in what they sell (everything from plane tickets to electronics to babysitting services) but the thing they all have in common is that prices are flexible.

In most cases, you start by entering the price you're willing to pay. If your offer is too low, some sites will reject it and make you start again. But the vast majority of sites will provide you with counteroffers. If the new offers are still too high, you can increase what you're willing to pay and see if the seller(s) will come down to meet you. If they don't accept your offer, and they won't go any lower, you then decide whether to accept the lowest offer or just walk away.

A variation of the negotiating sites are the Reverse Auction style sites such as eWanted. These sites are often a good way to buy services or hard-to-find or expensive items. With a reverse auction there's no need to haggle. You just sit back and relax as sellers make offers on what you'd like to buy. With some sites the sellers can underbid each other to try to win your business before the reverse auction ends. On other sites the sellers e-mail you their best price right off the bat because they don't get to see what other sellers are offering. Once you get your final offers, you can choose to accept any offer you wish. Or if no offers are satisfactory, you don't have to accept any of them.

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