The shy guy's guide to retail haggling

The word "haggling" seems so unfortunate.

It brings to mind visions of a used car lot, and that perfunctory back-and-forth with the salesman. "Let me check with my sales manager," they say with a minor-league thespian sigh.

Sure, go check. I'll still ask for another $1,000 off when you get back.

But haggling seems to be all the rage in retail circles. Now, everyone seems to have a story about how they wheedled a great price for something through sheer willpower. The recession has granted every shopper a license to consider the sticker price on even an Old Navy sweater as merely a starting point.

So how should shy or merely polite shoppers haggle? What are the most effective tactics? How does one haggle for results? Because even discount retailers like Walmart or Target are soft targets for the right kind of approach.

It doesn't require taking some kind of jerky attitude, or saying "Hey, can't you give me a better price?!"

Just a couple months ago, I managed to cut the price of a Martha Stewart Dutch oven at Macy's from its original price of $200 to just $48. Not bad.

In the last three months, 72 percent of people say they've been successful at haggling 80 percent of the time, according to America's Research Group. That's even though three quarters of retailers officially say they don't negotiate.

So somebody's willing to bargain.

"Culturally, we're all being asked to do more with less," said Michael Kamis, a marketing professor at Stony Brook University's college of business. "So people think, 'If I'm being asked to work harder with no increase, I'm going to ask for a break on what I buy.' "

Effective deal-making often starts by setting the bar low. So go online first.

If you have a favorite retailer, join their fan page on Facebook. There, company staff members often hint about upcoming sales, little known coupons or items going on clearance.

This is part of haggling, because you can see which retailers are willing to deal on price. Try engaging the retailer's staff online to find extra discounts. Things like a post saying "Hey, I love those XYZ pants, but they never seem to go on sale. Any help?"

Twitter feeds from retailers have good deals too, and the National Retail Federation gathers all the tweets from dozens of retailers into one list: Nordstrom, Kmart, North Face, Forever 21, Lowes, etc. (twitter.com/NRFnews/retailers-on-twitter.)

Once you're informed, remember that timing is everything.

One of the best questions is "Are there any sales coming up?" Most retail staffers know all about the sale calendar, and are willing to fudge the start/end times.

At Stein Mart, I found staff members who would go online, print out a coupon for an upcoming sale, then tell me when it will start, and put a product to the side for me to pick up later. All just from me asking "Wasn't there a coupon in the paper last weekend?"

Even at big stores like Walmart or Target, it's worth asking, "Hey, is this ever going on sale?"

At Macy's, I've found staff who will let you "pre-buy" an item at a lower price if it's going on sale soon. (Note, many grocery stores will do this too if you miss a sale, or give you a rain check if they sell out.)

Retailers like moving volume. So it's worth asking "What if I buy two?"

Kamis found Blockbuster staff would make a deal on DVDs. Instead of selling one at $14.99, they would sell 5 for $20. "They didn't really care how many videos they sold," Kamis said. "They just wanted the $20. So both sides won."

Or better yet, wield your smart phone like a weapon.

New apps let you use the phone's camera to scan the bar code of a product and look up rival prices at online merchants.

This works wonders, and I've written in the past how it found prices on purses, shoes and clothes that were half off or more. ShopSavvy, RedLaser and others are well worth the 99 cents to $1.99 price to download the app.

(At Target, for instance, I debated between two versions of a kid's glow-in-the-dark Magnadoodle. With one scan, RedLaser found customer reviews on the Toys-R-Us Web site showing one version rocked, while the other was garbage.)

Here's how you can employ that while haggling.

Say you're standing in a store, considering a $150 pair of shoes. Scan the bar code and find the price on Zappos.com, or just use the phone's browser instead. Odds are the price is lower online. Show that phone screen to a store manager and ask (politely) if they can match the price. Just don't feel offended if they can't. Their store policy may prohibit haggling.

That's not good enough for some shoppers. They fall into the category of "What are you going to do for me?"

From shoppers I've talked with, this tactic works best with products that are already marked up, including men's suits, women's apparel and jewelry.

You may pay out the nose for diamonds, but you should never pay sticker price.

Stores like BestBuy will often close a deal by offering a discount if you bundle a TV with a Bluray player and TV stand. Other stores like h.h. gregg have sales staff that work 100-percent on commission. If you're not buying, they're not earning. So don't be afraid to ask what will close a deal at a lower price.

So here's how I saved so much on that $200 Martha Stewart Dutch oven.

The pot was just put on a clearance table at 60-percent off. (Down to $80.) I chatted up the sales lady about how very, very cool it was. She hinted it would go on sale by another 20 percent in a couple days, and could give me that price now. ($64)

She rang up the pot, and I mentioned I had a coupon for 25-percent off anything in the store. Could I pretty please use that too, I asked? "Sure, bring it over," she said. Bingo, $48.

And she never had to go "talk with her sales manager."