The Art of the Deal

Summer internships in cities away from home are always exciting. I have interned for each of the past three summers in college and they have all enriched me with new experiences.

Living in Gurgaon after completing the first year of college was the first time I was trying to survive in a new city, alone. Right from finding an accommodation to trying to fix three meals a day, every exercise taught me something new. The next summers in Bangalore gave me my first encounter with a pickpocket. It made me realise that the experience of losing an amount as large as I did never leaves you. Every time I board a public transport now, I am more concerned about my wallet than falling off the bus or train !

Inspite of the varying experiences, the common thread throughout my three internships were my rather unsuccessful attempts at haggling. A change in this trend is what made my latest internship in Bombay so memorable. There were numerous opportunities to test my deal making skills in the past but every time, I folded too early or didn’t push hard enough. I had almost resigned to the fact that I was just too much of a pacifist to be a successful dealmaker. Then one day, I found my lost pride when I scored a leather bound book for a 50% markdown and even though it translated to a bargain of just Rs.100, it was a big win for me.

During my tryst with this elusive skill, I took the help of online resources to enrich myself theoretically. Even though I had realised that only practice would eventually yield results, I continued this exercise of reading guides because it helped me analyse the lacunae in my approach. I understood that the most important step in the whole process is the first offer that a customer makes after the shopkeeper has spoken. The trick is to be as ridiculous and irrational as possible, and this is precisely what makes it so tough to master. A plethora of thoughts go through one’s mind while trying to blurt out a number. From trying to figure out discount percentages to the margins of the shopkeeper, one tries to find a justification for presenting a counter offer. Most people fear that if they get it too low, the shopkeeper might refuse to sell and then it hurts their ego to go back up the price ladder. Ignoring this apprehension is the secret. Once this step is successfully completed, then it is just a matter of acting aloof and not being too attached to the product. Many times, the deal will not go through. But if the article was very dear to you, then it is worth the embarrassment of relenting. The idea is to not go to either extreme, neither too invested in the item, nor too focused on the haggling to miss the opportunity of buying something beautiful. Having said that, it helps to have alternative shops in mind to give you peace of mind while trying to get a good bargain.

Coming back to my first successful bargain, when I heard the shopkeeper say Rs.200 for the book, something inside me prompted me to exclaim Rs.100 as my offer. As was expected, he acted aghast on hearing this. But after some thought he decided to bring it down to 150. On any other day, I would have been happy with this little victory, but now that I had gotten him down, I wanted to see how far I could stretch it. The fact that there were other bookstores in the vicinity where I could probably find a similar book helped me adopt the all important, nonchalant demeanour. So, I stood my ground and he finally relented.

A few days later, I got an opportunity to retest my newfound ability, this time buying old vinyl records. The setting was a bit different as I went in with the objective to bargain and more importantly, I had only 500 rupees in my wallet. I realised later that having limited monetary resources is an important factor when trying to secure a bargain. Many times, the ability to spend more and the desire to avoid an uncomfortable conversation leads one to become soft and not try hard enough. But if there is a cap on how much can be spent, it enables one to stand his/her ground firmly. Also, the guilt of losing the deal because of miserliness doesn’t come into the picture. The other advantage of a situation like this is that instead of acting tough with the trader, one can try to get him to empathise with one’s bootstrapped situation. This introduced me to another trick that I could keep up my sleeve when going out in the ‘wild’ next.

With two wins in a single internship, I feel more confident than ever when trying to bargain. But, as Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility” and it is easy to want to test this skill whenever there is an opportunity. Allow your humanity to guide you sometimes and avoid arguing with a poor rickshaw puller or a roadside vendor for an insignificant sum. It will not only fill you with compassion but will earn you their blessings too. And who knows, these blessings may lead you to bigger steals in the future !