The Art of Bargaining

Nothing drives me crazier than someone asking what the lowest price a person will take for something they have for sale. That is not what I consider the proper way to bargain with someone. It's just insulting. So I will be working on a blog post regarding the Art of Bargaining. I will try to include ways to do it when you are the buyer and when you are the seller.

Bargaining as the Buyer:

1) Know what it is you want - if you are looking for something specific, wait until you find that item. Don't settle because you won't be happy with it.

2) Have a very solid idea of what is the most you would like to pay for that item. Don't go over that limit (as long as your idea is a reasonable one). Do your homework regarding what the cost of something should be.

3) Start below that top price when negotiating. Don't insult the seller with a unreasonably low offer but know that they have probably marked it up quite a bit. Give yourself some bargaining room. And you never know, they might just give you that lower price.

4) If you act really excited about something, the seller will know they have a sucker who will pay whatever they are asking for the item (especially in car dealerships). Be calm.

5) DON'T BE AFRAID TO WALK AWAY. Sellers want to sell - they do not want you to leave because you will likely not be back. If a seller won't come down and it is above your cap, just walk away. You can tell them that you have done your homework and know what it is worth. *this is very effective*

6) Pay cash whenever you can. Seeing the green is very motivating to sellers.

7) Do not ask what the lowest price a person will take. It's just rude and if the seller is smart they will just ignore you because there is someone out there who will probably pay more than you will. Just ask them, "Will you take $____" for this. It gives you a place to start bargaining.

Barganing as the Seller:

1) Know what the bottom dollar for the item is. Base this on worth and age and any money you might have put into it. Also know the market for that item. Don't let someone pay you less than what the bottom dollar is. Try not to lose money on it.

2) Have a full understanding of the product. Be able to sell its desirable qualities. Be honest about any damage present or past. Word of mouth works and you don't want to be labled as the cheat/liar.

3) Understand that word of mouth works. Encourage your happy customers to tell their friends!

4) Don't let someone walk away unless they are being completely unreasonable. Statistics show they won't be back.

5) Be willing to take a good offer. Throw in an incentive if it helps complete the sale.

6) If someone asks what the lowest offer you will take, either ignore them or tell them a price that is about mid-range. A serious/smart buyer knows what something is worth.

That's what I have for now. More to come as I think about it in the coming weeks. :)

29 and committed yet again

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 29 years old. Holy cow. I had a great weekend and pretty much celebrated the entire weekend which was kind of awesome. Saturday I had church which was awesome as a girl-night reunion with Krystal and Marissa. I don't know when three voices ever blended so well as ours do. I am sad that it will probably be the last time we will get to sing together. Then Eric came over and he, Steve, and I sat outside and watched fireworks while eating s'mores. We can see them decently well from our house in the front yard. Sunday we got to sleep in a bit and then had lunch with my dad, Thomas, Tori, and Trevor at the Mexican restuarant. Though we had a little trouble finding a table that my dad could sit comfortably in while in his wheelchair, the food was great and I even got a birthday dessert. Thankfully no one sang to me though. Steve and I then went down to Quincy to see a movie and have dinner. We saw Monte Carlo, which is just a chick-flick. The movie was good though the annoying girls who sat behind us and kept talking were not. We ended up moving farther away from them which helped some. Then we wen to TGI Fridays because I love that place. All in all it was a great day. Yesterday on my actual birthday I got woken up by my grandma who called to tell me Happy Birthday. We had lunch with her and my mom and stepdad at the local chinese restaurant, mostly because it was one of the only places in town that was open! After we went home and took a nap, we headed up to Carthage to watch fireworks with Eric since they were actually holding them on the 4th. We had dinner at a local restaurant that served us even though they had closed 15 mins before we got there. Then we hung out until it got dark enough. The fireworks were awesome and we picked perfect seats to watch. I got eaten alive by the mosquitos but otherwise it was awesome. I think this was one of the best birthdays I have had in a long time.

Regarding the recommittment. I have gained all but about 19lbs back that I lost. I realized that I hate feeling fat and gross so even though I am not really in the mood to focus on losing weight, I am going to focus on my eating at the least and start walking again. I am also drinking lots of water which my body really needs. So we will see if I can get my head in the game by forcing it to be. I had set a goal to be at my goal weight by my 30th birthday. So I have exactly a year to lose about 100lbs. Good grief. I may not be able to make that but I can surely put a good dent in it.

I PASSED!!!!!!

I took the test for my license this morning and passed. As soon as the board gets all the information I will be given a license to be a LMHC, licensed mental health counselor. I was nervous at first, not only because of taking the exam that I wasn't not familiar with at all, but also because I was given a maximum of four hours to take the exam and I got done in a little over an hour. But, everything went okay and I got through it and PASSED!!!  This has been a long time coming and I am so glad all the trouble I went through was worth it.

Losing a great lady

My step-grandmother passed on Sunday morning. I hope to be as well loved in life and this wonderful lady was. She always treated me as one of her own. She will be greatly missed by the whole family and community.

Virginia H. Ginny Wittler Obituary: View Virginia Wittler's Obituary by Quincy Herald-Whig

Excited!

I am super excited! I had signed up on the waiting list to sell Thirty-One products. Originally we were told that it wouldn't be until August that we would be able to sign up officially. But they recently changed that and they will be letting one "wave" of girls in next week (3100 people from what I understand). I am pretty sure I was one of the first ones to sign up so I am hopeful that I will be in that wave. I am working now on getting leads for people that might be interested in the products and having a party. I love this stuff. I wrote a list of everything that I have so far and I couldn't believe how long the list was already. I think the could be a lot of fun!

Just kinda lonely....

I really miss having a close friend that will call just because and will say, "hey, why don't we [go shopping], [have lunch], etc. today. Most of the time I feel like the only time anyone gets ahold of me is because they need me to do something for them. So I mostly just feel used and stressed out all the time. It's really catching up with me lately too. I am not very good at saying no but I am working on it.

I am working on keeping myself surrounded with positive people who lift me up. And I am getting rid of the ones that bring me down. Maybe that isn't the way to deal with it but I have tried long enough with some of the people that I am just spinning in circles. Eh.

This post was going to be really long and probably more than a little whiny. It's not anymore. I just don't care right now.

A little more

I lost 0.6lbs this week. I have not felt good for the past two days. Not sure what is going on, but I am going to try to make it through work today. This sucks.