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Holiday Haggling: Websites Help Shoppers Negotiate Their Own Price

Haggling for the holidays. Negotiating can seem daunting and unconventional, but this season there are several tactics you can use to get a good deal that's not listed online!

"Let's just see if we can get down to maybe $1,600 on this as a starting point."

Jesse Gaddis is a strategic haggler. Sometimes counter offering five times while negotiating through the online market place PriceWaiter.com.

Today he's shopping for a new 65-inch television.

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"It says 'congratulations, I was able to negotiate this price for you of $1,600,'" Gaddis said.

"So I actually will counter offer… trying to see if we can hit'em for maybe $1,500."

PriceWaiter is an e-commerce platform like Amazon where hundreds of retailers sell new items ranging from apparel to home and garden items.

What's different here is there's a "waiter" — a little chat-bot — that acts as a liaison between you and the retailer.

"It helps you to make an offer, helps negotiate that offer with partnered retailers," PriceWaiter CEO Stephen Culp said.

The site displays the manufacturer suggested retail price and the Amazon price so when Jesse found a pair of running sneakers the "waiter" told him the Amazon price is $169 but, "they're saying we can beat it by at least 10 percent," Gaddis explained.

PriceWaiter says on average consumers request a 26-percent discount and end up with a savings of 14 percent; which is on average $81.

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Before you start haggling David Carnoy, executive editor at CNET, says do your research.

"We go to camel camel camel, that's three camels dot com. You input the product and you can see the pricing info of that product over time," Carnoy said.

"Sometimes you'll see it actually was lower… Could have been $50 to $100 lower than list price."

Don't forget – you can always ask for a lower price in person.

Many department stores will match a competitor's price if you show proof of a lower listing. Carnoy also says another little known spot for deals is the "renewed" section of Amazon – they're refurbished items or ones that were returned but never used.

A lot of options to make sure you never have to settle for a sale.

Experts also warn, no matter how good a deal, make sure to check a company's return and shipping policy first.

 

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