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  • I've always wanted to do that.

  • Hey, everyone.

  • I'm Alex.

  • Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on:

  • "How to Negotiate Prices".

  • So, this is a business vocabulary lesson, and today we are going to look at how to ask

  • about the cost of something, how to comment about the cost being too high for you, and

  • then how to get someone to maybe lower the price of something.

  • Now, what situations can we do this in, you know, in the 21st century?

  • This is if you're trying to negotiate the cost of a car maybe, the cost of a house,

  • or it can be something in a local market or a garage sale.

  • So, first let's look at how to ask about the cost of something.

  • And I have one, two, three, four, five, six different questions that you can use to ask

  • about cost, to ask about the price.

  • Number one:

  • "How much does this/that/it cost?"

  • For the sake of me not saying the words: "this", "that", "it" every time, I'm just going to

  • say "this", but know that you can say:

  • "How much does this cost?",

  • "How much does that cost?",

  • "How much does it cost?"

  • Okay?

  • So, next: "How much is this/that/it?"

  • Instead of: "How much does this cost?", "How much is this?"

  • Next: "How much is this/that/it going for?"

  • So, this is an expression.

  • Something goes for a certain amount of money.

  • For example, say: "Oh, this comic book is going for $20."

  • Maybe it's a rare collector's edition or something.

  • "It is going for...", "It costs..."

  • This is how much people are paying for it.

  • Okay.

  • "Hey. How much is it for this/that/it?"

  • So you're asking: "How much money, you know, is it...?

  • Does it cost for this?

  • How much is it for this?"

  • And if you want to be a little bit more specific, this one you can use in a more informal situation,

  • like a garage sale, for example, or at the market, like:

  • "Hey. How much do you want for this?"

  • Okay?

  • Or "how much do you want for that or it?

  • How much do you want for it?"

  • And another one: "Is this/that the final price?"

  • So, you're kind of opening the door to say: "Mm, is this the final price?

  • I'm not sure I want to pay this price.

  • Is it the final price or can I talk about it with you?"

  • Sometimes the person you are talking to, you know, if you ask them this question:

  • "Is this the final price?"

  • and they'll say: "Well, you know, what are you thinking?

  • Like what do you have in mind?

  • What is another price we can talk about?"

  • Now, if you want to negotiate and you want to get the price down, you need to comment

  • and say: "It's a little..."

  • For example, this thing, whatever, you're looking at the price and this thing...

  • Imagine this is $500.

  • $500 for this amazing globe.

  • Now, you can say:

  • "$500. It's a little expensive.",

  • "It's a little pricey."

  • "Pricey" is an adjective.

  • You see the word "price", it's slang for expensive.

  • "It's a little pricey."

  • "It's a little out of my price range."

  • So, for example, you have a range.

  • A range means kind of like from $0 to $200 is my range.

  • That's where I can go with the price, but $500, that is ridiculous.

  • Same with: "It's a little over my budget."

  • So, your budget is how much money you can spend or how much money you want to spend.

  • So, my budget to buy this globe was $300.

  • $500 is over my budget.

  • You can say:

  • "It's more than I have. I don't have $500. It's more than I have."

  • Or you can also say:

  • "It's more than I can pay." Or

  • "It's more than I can afford."

  • So now you've opened the door, you've started the discussion, saying:

  • "I'm interested in this globe, but it doesn't really, you know, match what I can pay you."

  • So let's see where the conversation can go from here.

  • Okay, now you've asked about the price, you've commented that it's a bit too expensive.

  • It's time to make an offer.

  • It's time to say what you can pay for it.

  • So, there are a couple of phrases that you can use.

  • You can say, for example: "Would you sell it for $200?"

  • That's really low.

  • You can also say: "Would you take $200?",

  • "How about $200?"

  • If you want to be very direct: "I'll give you $200."

  • Okay? So, very direct, saying: "I will give you $200."

  • Now, it's in their face.

  • Right? So they're like: "Oo, it's $200.

  • I want $500, but this man is offering me $200 right now."

  • Maybe this phrase will get you the result you want.

  • Maybe not.

  • Maybe they'll say:

  • "Uh, I'm still not comfortable with 200. Maybe you can meet me halfway.

  • Maybe you can give me 350."

  • Or something like that.

  • So, you heard me say: "Meet me halfway."

  • This is some extra vocabulary that I'm going to give you guys now.

  • So "to meet someone halfway" or "to meet someone in the middle" is to basically take

  • the high cost, the high price, take the low offer of the person, and then compromise,

  • meet in the middle.

  • So, for example, the buyer wants to pay $200.

  • The seller wants the buyer to pay $500.

  • "Can you meet me in the middle?"

  • "Can you meet me halfway?"

  • Maybe between 200 and 500 is 350.

  • So, they'll say: "Okay. I can meet you halfway.

  • I can meet you in the middle, and we'll agree to pay $350."

  • Now, again, maybe the seller thinks that $200 is really low.

  • He thinks that is a terrible offer, so he might say:

  • "$200, that's a lowball figure."

  • So, imagine like when you're negotiating, you're kind of playing a game of baseball

  • in a way.

  • So "a lowball figure" is a low number that the seller...

  • Sorry.

  • The buyer knows it's a low number because they expect the seller to give them, you know,

  • better than $500 still.

  • And the person selling might ask: "Do you have a ballpark?"

  • "Do you have...?"

  • "What's your price range?"

  • "What is your budget?"

  • "What is your ballpark?"

  • You can say: "My ballpark is between $200 and $300.

  • That's how much money I am looking to spend."

  • Which, again, the final question:

  • "I'm looking to spend between _______ and _______."

  • So, we've asked about the cost, we have commented about the cost and not liking it,

  • we've made an offer,

  • we've maybe used some extra vocabulary to kind of make the exchange nice and social and comfortable.

  • And hopefully at the end of all this, you are the proud owner of a black globe thing.

  • Yay.

  • That's it.

  • All right.

  • If you'd like to test your understanding of this material, as always,

  • you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com.

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  • Until next time, thanks for clicking.

I've always wanted to do that.

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