Would You Haggle for a Good Deal?

No need to wear a goofy game-show outfit; deals can be had easily at your local electronics store.

Some call it begging -- we prefer the term "bargain shopping."

Store prices may be high, but guess what? Price ain’t nothing but a number, baby. 

There’s a new trend in tech town, my friends: the time-honored art of haggling. That’s right; the same skills that you show off to get souvenirs on your summer vacation can be applied to your electronics shopping.

It’s not only happening, it’s actually widely accepted—sort of. Sure it’s easy to believe that places like a mom-and-pop might float you a few bucks, when they have that penny dish so prominently displayed on the counter. However, the collared shirts of the big-box stores are apparently also cutting deals.

The New York Times says that places like Best Buy, Circuit City, and Home Depot are all allowing floor deals to be made. This is fact, not fictional—and frankly, you don’t even have to be very good at it.

Case in point: My husband, who has zero phone or haggling skills (he can’t even handle placing a takeout order), scored me a killer video camera for $100 cheaper than the price tag. How? There was no method to his madness. It was a bit more than he wanted to spend, and he just started to leave.

The Times, however, says there is a much more educated clan out there, armed with cheaper web prices, using that info as a bargaining chip. A former Best Buy salesman says that one-quarter of the customers would haggle. It pays off—one person cited got almost $1,000 off a purchase.

Have you haggled your way into big savings? Share your shopping experience in the comments below.