So are you the sort of person who delights in a small discount given by vendor when you are out shopping? Do you haggle? Or are you like me, who will be happy paying the advertised price without asking for a discount?
Of course I am not advocating paying any price even if it is ridiculously over-priced, not worth the price tag, or to not do your comparison and research before making the purchase. What I mean is, if deep down, you know the item is worth the advertised price, will you still be inclined to haggle and get the "Best Price"?
Perhaps because I have spent a big chunk of my adulthood in Australia, where what you see is what you pay. There is no room for haggling, especially not in a retail shop, or getting a professional service of any sort. I do not understand the mentality of people doing it here in Malaysia.
I have encounter vendor that gives me a discount without me asking because "I am Chinese/Pretty/Nice/their first customer of the day" etc etc. However, to me, it just means that the price was inflated first to allow for such discounts, which in my opinion, is a waste of everyone's time. In fact, I have asked one such vendor why he gives discount when not asked. Why not just put the discounted price as the advertised price, he told me because people expects a discount, even if it is a small one. So he had to mark up the price to allow for such discount.
I always thought apart from it being an SE Asian mentality, it must also be a generational behavior. My mom, and aunties of her age, gets excited when they manged to get an extra RM5 discount from the vendor for something that cost RM50 to begin with. Not because they are poor, but because cheaper is always better.
But then as I began running my own photography business, I started encountering younger generation that ask for discounts, sometimes for extra free gifts, and sometimes, they will ask relentlessly. More often than not, these young people end up putting down the deposit, sometimes for the highest package I have to offer, without the discount; and we conclude the whole dealing with them leaving happy with the images they received.
So here is my take on the whole "Discount" business. I run an honest business, with all my prices transparent for all to see. I aim to make a nice profit for all the hardwork and training and money I spent and put in. The advertised price is what I have worked out to allow me to pay for the expenditures, and have some remain for my own use. I do not offer discount, because the price has not been inflated first to allow for such discount.
So believe me when I tell you politely that there is no room for discount. And if you are looking for a good deal for someone that will be handling your newborn baby, then I suggest you rethink your priority. Because those training I have taken for me to get to this level of competency had not been cheap.
Sorry, but I am Not Sorry!