Sunday, October 24, 2010

Trying-Hard Haggler

Yesterday I went to Tutuban Mall. I would have wanted to go to Divisoria mall but I got stuck in traffic. The normal 30-minute drive from Makati to Divisoria became a two-and-a-half-hour ordeal. When I tried to maneuver, as I thought of taking another route, I was caught on a u-turn violation. What I did to get away without paying the hefty fine is another story. But it's somewhat related to my title, if you get my drift.

So, what's with Tutuban?. First, I wanted to buy some RTWs to bring to Cebu. Second, I wanted to try my best to haggle like my wife does when she goes to the area. The P250 becomes P150, or something like that. Wifey sells them at margin.

My problem is not in the selection of items to buy. I can manage even if I have to endure the suspecting gaze of the salesladies. "What is this big guy doing, buying women's clothes?". I don't also need to ask the salesladies of their opinion on the design of the clothes. If I like what I see, I directly go for it.

Now, I have this difficulty in haggling, negotiating with the seller to bring their price down. P250 for a dress is already cheap, right? That is if you are in a department store. But in Divisoria, you can bring it down to P100 if you have the skills. So what were my intro lines?

"I buy these for wifey. I'm gonna resell these. I have no money left, and I appreciate if you sell it to me at this price." I am a trying hard haggler, you know. The most I got is a P50 reduction of their initial price. For the uninitiated, this is already a good start. But I am not yet satisfied.

If I'm gonna resell to wifey all the items I bought yesterday, I'm very very sure that I will incur losses.

5 comments:

dodong flores said...

Hello, Gaw. I'm not also good in haggling. Just like you, I may incur big losses if I may resell what I have to buy from Divisoria.
I don't usually go to that kind of places because of traffic problem. Several times my wife and I went there, we were just taking public ride...

Laz said...

gaw, i think i'll be back to divi soon. the clothes i bought were selling like pancakes. lol!

Gypsy said...

Hi Lazarus--I hope you were able to get good buys! I have no patience going all the way to Divi, I go the Greenhills Tiangge. :)

Am back blogging.:)

freeze said...

haha trying hard! i lost touch with this blog, active pa diay ni. will ex-link!

virtual office manila said...

Haggling is common around Tutuban and Divisoria.