High-stakes haggling

It would be fair to say that most Australian households are familiar with the popular hardware store’s mantra, “if you find a lower price on the same stocked item, we’ll beat it by 10%”. But how many times have you taken up the offer?

Consumer group Choice says the practice of negotiating when buying goods and services isn’t as common in Australia as in many European and Asian countries. While price matching is often available across whitegoods, alcohol and electronics, we tend to shy away from haggling more broadly, even on more expensive purchases. For example, more than half the participants in a 2021 Finder survey said they preferred not to negotiate on price when buying a car.

Choice puts this hesitancy partly down