Easy trick/technique to save/make money

Here's a little trick that I don't think is used enough despite how well it can work for both consumers and marketers alike. It doesn't matter if you're selling a product, buying something, or negotiating a better deal for your debt or loans.

Basically, if you make an offer that is greatly in your favor that you don't think will ever be agreed upon, you can expect it to be shot down. But here's what you do after making such a ridiculous offer -- make a more reasonable offer that is still lower than what the seller/buyer was asking.

You'll find that many people will now accept your offer even if they would have turned it down the first time if you made only the reasonable offer without the ridiculous offer. Many will accept this offer because they'll view you as being nice for making a second offer and working with them, so they'll feel like they'll have to work with you.

Here's an example if you're negotiating rent for an apartment: For a $900/month apartment that seems to be strict in their price, try offering $800/month first. You'll probably get shot down, but then offer $850 or so. If the person you make the offer to has a say in the price, they may often feel bad for turning you down twice and will feel that since you are working with them on a more reasonable price, they might also work with you too -- even if they initially wouldn't have accepted $850.

You can even do the opposite as a marketer when you make offers to your customers. Some door-to-door salesmen are trained to offer to sell you an item for a much higher price initially only to expect you to turn it down. Then they'll offer a much lower price that seems more reasonable, which you might then look into. In the door-to-door example, this is a little more well known now, so it doesn't always work as well when it's this obvious, but you get the picture.

Even if you owe debt, creditors are often trained in this (and if you know this, you can get an even cheaper deal to pay them back) and will use it on you. You can make a ridiculously low offer that will probably get shot down. Then make a more reasonable offer. Even though creditors are trained at what they can and can't offer, many are still able to talk to their managers to get an even better deal. You'd be surprised at how well this works.

Here's one more example that is still somewhat related, but that I'm sure almost ANYONE here can use. If you're about to buy a car, you can use this tactic there in negotiating, but you can add a little twist to it. If the car dealership has financing, you can also offer to use their financing. Since dealerships can make a lot off of some financing plans (a lot more than the initial price of the car), they're often willing to negotiate an even lower price knowing that they'll most likely make more later. Then after this is negotiated and you get the lower price, either pay the car off immediately or go to your own bank to get a better loan and pay off the other loan with that.

If you're clever enough with this, you can find that you can save, or perhaps even make, a little extra money here and there.

Hope it helps a few of you!