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A New Way to Haggle...

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  Loghousenut 
#1 · (Edited)
TLDNR (too long, do not read).


I used to be pretty good at haggling. Til I was almost 40, I always took 6 or 8 months off every 6 or 8 months. I got pretty good at saving every nickel. Every time I talked a seller out of $2, that was money to buy cheese for a hike or fuel for a road trip.

Well somewhere along the journey, I met the right gal, settled down, had the right baby, and started in on a new long range career. The Company had a 401K so we decided to put as much as we could into it from the start. It cut onto our lifestyle very little because we were buying land and my Wife was at home all day homeschooling our son. When you don't have any extra money, having a little less makes very little difference.

We didn't know about investing so we did something really stupid... we put it all in the Company's stock. This all happened after the Enron fiasco down in Houston but I had this blind faith thing going on. This was a big company and still growing. The old timers who had been there 10 or 12 years said I had missed the big boom that made them rich and I might as well diversify into a mutual fund (whatever that is). To us, it was just money that we might need later on so we never gave it much thought.

Do you have any idea what 24 years of growing Costco stock can do for a 401K? When we finally hired a money guy to figure out how old we'd be when we retired, the first thing he said to us was "This crazy risky and you have to diversify. And why aren't you retired?"

So we are not in debt, live in the last house we will ever build, we are both healthy with healthy genes, and have enough money. We're still cheap but we can afford to tip really well. Yard saling is still our biggest hobby and Goodwill is our clothing store. But I feel differently about haggling than I did when it was a major income source. I have discovered how much fun it is to offer more than they want for it.

So now when I sell junk on Craigslist or Facebook, I set a price and, as they are forking out the money, I usually stop them before they are all the way there. But there is still the sport of haggling, even if I don't have the bloodlust for it like I used to. When I bought my first TW, back in February, I was on the phone with the guy and we both knew I was going to buy it and make the 4 hour round trip to pick it up. I told him I was committed to it and it would be a cash sale, but I wanted him to do all the haggling about price. He said he already knew what his bottom price was going to be and he dropped the price $400. When we paid the guy we all giggled like a bunch of school girls about it. He said he thought I might need the money more than him and it made him feel good. I told him I didn't need the money and felt bad taking it but that I'd put it in Patty's charity jar if he wanted me to. The die is cast and that's how I handle haggling now.

This past Saturday (Independence Day), I bought a thrasher TW (for a 225 six speed swap) down in Sacramento. It was on Facebook. The guy wanted $2000 for it. We were messaging back and forth and suddenly there is an automated message that he had dropped it to $1500. We hooked up on the phone but I didn't mention the price drop. I said I'd buy it and start driving south within the hour. I gave the guy the same pitch about wanting him to do all the haggling, thinking he'd say $1500. He said he felt bad about me making the 10 hour round trip so asked if $1000 was OK.

I wish I had discovered this earlier in l life. I'da made a living out of it.

PS... I donated some money to his kid's college funds.
 
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#3 ·
Not too long, and I read it! I tend to use comedy as relief from anger these days - hearing your story of "investing" makes me desire some comedy. Even if it's satire...



P.S. - $1000 Tdub in that shape? Nice score, brother!
 
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