In negotiations you should always ask for more than you hope to get. After all, the offering party will never immediately agree and come up with a less favorable counter-proposal. That is why houses have an asking price and other transactions are often negotiated between buyer and seller. But your teenage daughter also knows the principle of asking too much, because if she asks if she can come home at 2 o’clock in the morning and you make it 1 hour, she laughs into her fist. So ask for a 20% discount if you hope to get 10%.
Negotiation
If you want something done from someone else, you can simply ask for it directly and bluntly. But it is often more convenient to ask for more than you want. The system is also called bargaining or horse trading. So aim high and only arrive at the desired offer after negotiations. Because if you want 50 euros in storage, that is sometimes only possible if you ask for 100 euros. If you immediately ask for 50 euros, it could end up being only 25 euros. But the principle of overcharging does not only work in the financial field.
Horse-trading or bargaining
In the agricultural sector and livestock trade, the price was often determined via the hand-me-down system. Even in urbanized North Holland, sellers and buyers were quite recently involved in handshakes at the Purmerend cattle market. The seller then comes up with an asking price that is too high, after which the buyer makes a counter offer that is too low. (over-asking and under-bidding) The seller will then reduce his price somewhat, but not as much as the buyer asks. The name slapping hands comes from the fact that each proposal involves slapping the opponent’s hand. If the buyer or seller, after much clapping back and forth, finally shakes hands instead of hitting, the final price has been arrived at and the sale has been concluded. So it comes down to the seller asking for more than he quietly hopes to get. If the seller immediately came up with his ultimate offer, he would be shooting himself in the foot.
The system of horse trading, i.e. overcharging in combination with undercutting, occurs at all levels of society. Only the physical clapping of hands is then omitted. But political negotiations are in fact nothing more than handshakes and this also applies to collective labor agreement negotiations. But also as a private person and as a consumer, it often benefits you if you ask for more than you hope to receive. But also realize that if someone else wants something done from you, he/she does not always expect you to agree 100%. So haggling is allowed.
Not just financial issues
The system of asking more than you hope to get works not only in the financial field, but in all areas where we want to get something done from someone else.
- We want something done within seven days and we start by demanding that it be done within three days.
- Because we want to go on holiday for two weeks, but one week is enough for our partner, we propose to him to take a three-week trip.
- Having sex just once a week is a bit sparse (you get the idea).
- etc. etc.
Don’t give in too quickly
Never drop the prize too quickly and don’t give up too quickly. Always put on a difficult face and act hesitant. The opponent must get the feeling that he has really gotten the most out of it, and that someone else would never have managed to gain such a tremendous advantage. If you give in too quickly and too easily, it will leave him/her with the feeling afterwards that there could have been more.
Don’t ask unrealistic questions
If you go too far with an unrealistic asking price, you run the risk that the other party will feel disrespected and angrily drop out. Then you have bitten yourself in the tail. With well-known relationships, such as parents/children, colleagues, friends, a more realistic asking price will automatically be used and the price will also be negotiated less fiercely. On balance you arrive at the same final bid.
Agree immediately
Don’t be afraid to say yes bluntly and immediately if you have the feeling that someone else is making an honest request without asking too much. Because many people will of course not use the trick of over-asking, because they are not used to it, or because it is against their principle.
Don’t haggle
It is of course also possible that you clearly agree in advance that you will quote the right price at once, and then decide whether you like it or not.