Buying vs Being Sold
I always find that I get much better deals when I first decide what I want to buy then hunt for a price rather than letting someone else sells me something, but would you believe it could be a 90% difference?About either years ago two Kirby Vacuum cleaner salesmen came and demonstrated their g-six vacuum. I have to give them credit as they showed off their product very well- or I wouldn’t remember this story! It was an impressive cleaning machine - it picked up the Carpet Fresh that our vacuum had left over a year of weekly vacuuming! I was convinced that it was a nice vacuum- but the price was just too high. They starting at $1000 and the best I could haggle down to was $800. In the end we didn’t buy it. I also remember being very happy we didn’t as finances were a bit tight in the next few months and would have been a lot harder with $800 less. I actually feel a bit guilty though… The salesmen went to the extreme of eating some of the carpet shampoo to demonstrate that it was non toxic. I really feel someone willing to eat carpet foam should get some compensation!This summer I was looking to replace our old vacuum and I remembered their demo. I did my own search and found an even newer model Kirby selling for $150 on craigslist. I asked if the buyer would take $100- it never hurts to ask for a discount and I noticed it had been posted for over a month. She agreed, so I showed up with $100 cash and picked it up that day. She told me that she was willing to accept only $100 because several people already expressed interest then never show up to finalize the deal.In the end I discovered a few things I didn’t like about the vacuum; it weighs a ton and is too big to get under some furniture but for $100 I’m satisfied with my purchase. The next time someone is trying to sell you something- think about how much you could get selling it in a few years. If you do still decide to buy ask for a discount- the worst they can do is say no!