Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.
Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.
Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information.
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.
We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.
Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.
Editor’s note: This is a transcript of the audio file.
In this tough economy, there has never been a better time to haggle. I’m Rose Raymond with Bankrate.com’s Personal Finance Minute.
You can negotiate anything these days, but do your research beforehand by reading Consumer Reports, searching online shopping sites, checking newspaper ads or browsing at stores beforehand.
Once you’re ready, bring physical evidence with you, like the printout of an online ad. If the salesperson can only drop an item to a certain price, he may be willing to throw in free or discounted accessories.
And remember, timing is everything. Shop at the end of the month or quarter when salespeople have to meet quotas. If you meet resistance, ask for the manager. In places where haggling isn’t the norm like department stores, find the person who can tinker with the price.
Stop off at the ATM before shopping and ask if there’s discount if you pay with cash. If you don’t mind flawed items, ask to buy them at a discount. Many department stores give an automatic 10 percent off on damaged products.
If all else fails, walk away. That may bring you the price you want. For more money saving tips, go to Bankrate.com. I’m Rose Raymond.
Share