In flea markets and on Vinted, negotiations are going well. But for this professional bargain hunter, a simple experience was enough to make her promise never to haggle again.
It’s a bit of an obligatory passage in garage sales and other Sunday flea markets: “Will you give me a price?”. We even sometimes say that if we don’t negotiate, it’s because we’re being had. On the stands, we then hear passers-by systematically asking for 1 or 2 euros less, and sometimes even only 50 cents. This is not what will ruin the seller, you will tell me, nor what will enrich the buyer for that matter. However, this reflex is not without consequences and Jocelyne Loaëc, from the online flea market “Ma Valise en Carton”, has experienced it.
If the bargain hunter explains from the outset that her testimony “is neither a rule, nor a lesson, nor a fixed position on flea markets or negotiations”, she wanted to share with her subscribers a story which has considerably changed the way she buys in this context. Since this experience, she has promised herself never to automatically negotiate again: either the price suits her, or she moves on. And there are many comments from people saying they are doing exactly the same thing today.
Jocelyne says that at the beginning, she did like everyone else and almost systematically asked for a small discount. Late one Sunday afternoon, she came across a small object and asked the price, as is customary. The saleswoman tells him 3 euros. Without really thinking, she then blurted out: “Will you make it for me for 2 euros?” The bargain hunter says that the lady’s expression immediately changed before she burst into tears. The latter then explains to him that, since the morning, everyone has been negotiating with her and confides to him that she was doing this garage sale to “finish her month”. She adds that she “felt like I had to give everything.”
The founder of “Ma Valise en Carton” admits to feeling tiny. She apologized and finally paid the 3 euros requested initially. This very simple exchange made him realize that if a person sets a price for an object, it is often because this amount makes sense. Since then, she no longer negotiates, except when it is the seller himself who opens the discussion on this ground and the price becomes fair for everyone.
Without giving a lesson, she therefore reminds us that these systematic negotiations, even minimal, sometimes have more impact than we imagine. They can make you forget the time, the work or even the situation of the person selling. Something to think about as the garage sale season is in full swing.
