Ten tips to improve your bargaining skills...

1) Value versus want: Most bargain to get a good deal but some do for the sheer pleasure of doing it, be sure which category you fall in to. If you are at it to hone your skills or feel good about you skills then the product/service seizes to have any significance, on the other hand if you are looking for a deal then the act is not as important as the output. This tip might sound elementary but is profound.
Approach: Ask yourself how badly do you want the product, if the answer is 'very' then you are in the first category. If you do not need the product but are willing to buy if it comes if the intangible pleasure of victory then you fall in the second category.

2) Never drop an anchor: 'Anchor' is the base price that you are willing to pay. It is a factor of the quoted price, your perceived worth of the entity for sale and the urgency of your need. 'Dropping an anchor' is to let the seller how much you are wiling to pay in the least. By doing so you are handing the advantage to the seller.
Approach: Talk the seller in to slashing the price as much as possible, this will give you an indication of his intentions and also a lot of room to play around with.

3) Juggle expressions and emotions: People react differently to the same stimuli, so using different emotions is a very useful tool in making the seller react in a manner favorable to you. Some people react to emotion and logic while others are immune to pain, so to each his own.
Approach: Interact with the seller for a while and try to size the person's psyche, having done so attack the most vulnerable dimension. I used to buy paper backs from a person who could be convinced not by logic or reason but by ordering

4) Know when to walk away: Nobody can have a 100% strike rate, everyone has off days. If you feel the actual price is not in line with the perceived value do not let your emotion rule you, walk away.

Approach: When nothing seems to work, politely reject the offer and walk away. This will establish your character.

5) Nothing personal, purely business: At the end of it all all that you and the seller are looking for is a good deal, you want more bang for your buck and the seller wants a profit and a satisfied customer (ideal scenario). It is a purely a business transaction for both of you. One can never be too careful in their choice of enemies - Oscar Wilde.
Approach: Refrain from making scathing remarks or getting personal.

6) Introduce variables: Avoid speaking about the price in isolation, always refer to the price in association with variables. The variable need not necessary be intelligent or appropriate, they could actually have nothing to do with the item on sale but trigger the sellers right brain.
It always helps if your associations can target multiple senses, vision, auditory and kinesthetic (inspired by Unlimited Power).
Approach: Use the physical attributes of the product like the color or the texture and map it to the sellers carpet or the table wood, if you see where I an coming from there might be no correlation or causality but this will distract the seller.


7) Connect at one level at least: We generally buy from a person or a group of people, by implication one or more flesh and blood beings. Hence connecting with the seller gives us a huge leverage, the connection could be at either an emotional or psychological or spiritual level...
Approach: If there is something between the seller and you, get it to his notice. If you are feeling creative use tip number 2).

8) Bundling favors the seller: Bundling is putting more than one offering together and quoting a common price for the tied up entities. It might be counter intuitive but bundling goes against the buyers interests, I will not go in to the maths of it but it is true.
Approach: Arrive at individual prices and work towards reducing the overall price, then you gain at both ends.

9) Patience pays: Bargaining like all arts calls for patience. One needs to approach it like an artist treats her art.
Approach: Understand the dynamics and deploy the most tip or set of tips most likely to succeed.

10) Transactional or relational: Transactions are one off and relations are long standing. A transaction can lead to a relation. The way you transact once you are in a relation is different from how you would if you were not. The relation need not necessarily be with the seller but
with the establishment.