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Friday, September 9, 2016

A "clever-er" way of bargaining for non-negotiable items on Carousell

Not sure if you have encountered this on Carousell, but here's a little trick some buyers might use to negotiate for lower price in a sneaky manner.

Buyer : "Negotiable?"
You : "Nope, sorry. Prices are already very low, so it's fixed."

If you sell a few items, this buyer will then ask you whether you can give a discount if he buys both item 1 and 2.

Let's say both items cost $10 each.

"Well sure," you say. "in this case, how about $2 off in total?"

"okay, I will transfer payment later" says the buyer.

1 or 2 days later...

"Hi, sorry I decided that I need only item 1, will pass on item 2. I have transferred $9 to your account."

If you are not sharp enough, you might just miss it and let the deal pass.
But well if you are sharp or your margins are really tight, you will realise that this buyer has on his own accord, taken a $1 discount even though he is just buying one item (a previously non-negotiable one at that)!



What do you do? 

Cancel the deal?
Ask him to top up the $1? He might just say, alright, refund me the $9 I transferred you. Do you want the hassle of transferring back or just let it pass since it's just $1?

Clever isn't it? You can try it as a buyer, it might work!

1 comment:

  1. As a seller, this is such a scumbag thing to do.
    Why would you want to resort to such a cheap trick just to save $1?

    I would hold the money until they transfer the $1. Or they won't get their item at all.

    If not, I rather refund the money then let the buyer get away with it. At least the buyer would learn that not everyone will give in so easily. They will be less likely to try it again.

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