Negotiating with tradespeople - Price advantage like in the bazaar?

I also find negotiating very exhausting; after all, in Germany one is somewhat removed from the "haggling mentality."

Negotiation culture in Germany just works differently than in Arab countries. By the way, this also applies when the provider, by origin, would be expected to actually be fond of bargaining. But it is also a misunderstanding that haggling is about pressing the price – this, to put it kindly, oversimplified perception insults cultures where this kind of behavior is practiced (not only oriental, but also Frisian). Negotiation in the Prussian cultural sphere works according to the principle of tendering: determination of quantities and volumes, definition of qualities, opportunity to submit offers, review, awarding decision. Whether re-negotiation takes place is not excluded, but it is advisable to indicate this in advance.

It definitely helps to obtain various offers beforehand (which also contain identical services) and then possibly mention them during the discussion.

At the very least, one should definitely mention whether one requests an offer for the purpose of awarding a contract if satisfied – or for the purpose of assessing another offer. And one should also say what one is aiming for: for example, I find "better references" an interesting point. But also "I will buy if you give a discount" is a legitimate wish – if it is openly stated from the outset; in my opinion, however, not a particularly clever one, but there is a lid for every pot.

I also thought about how I would design a tender. And in doing so, I had to think of the tenders from various municipal utilities in my old company. There, the three companies in question had the opportunity to improve the contract sum in the form of flat percentages. I would probably handle it that way as well. In my current position as GVL, however, I always quote my customers a price that I do not reduce any further. Either the customer accepts the price or goes to the competition. Therefore, I can quite understand if the estimator fills the field with the percentage "0".

There, the three companies in question had the opportunity to improve the contract sum in the form of flat percentages.

With seriously calculated offers, this only works to a very limited extent because not all items have the same amount of "leeway."

In my current position as GVL, however, I always give my customers a price that I will no longer reduce.

The most important thing in a successful tender process is to make this point (whether improvements are planned or not) transparent from the outset. Unfortunately, many inexperienced requesters mistakenly consider it a clever tactic to subject bidders to a blind flight. Above all, they hurt themselves with this, but regularly refuse to believe it.

I cannot answer because the option does not exist.

It was different.

If I had already decided on the cheapest, not much was negotiated anymore. Maybe I asked about a discount.

If I wanted the more expensive one, I still mentioned that there was one that was about sum X cheaper, and asked what could still be done on the price with them.

Usually there was still a little wiggle room, sometimes nothing at all.

I didn’t bargain like at a bazaar and haggle down to the bone. I didn’t want the partner to then cut corners on quality because of a too low price and for me to regret it later.

I work in an industry that has a very high hourly rate for, for example, me. For that, I hopefully deliver good work and want to be well paid. I expect the same from craftsmen, and yes, they should also be well paid for good work. What I did, for example, in civil engineering: obtained several offers, or sometimes asked for a discount. If the offer was accepted immediately without further negotiations, there was no further haggling.

We had three different categories: 1) Standard case: After discussing a received offer with the provider of a trade, we ended by asking whether the price could still be adjusted (completely openly). Almost all of them actually offered us some form of discount (so they would receive the money immediately without delay/discussion) and partly an additional 0.5-2% discount (sometimes only on certain tender items). In this respect, not asking at all is not a good idea in my opinion. 2) In one or two cases, we were quoted an exorbitant price for necessary additional services. Example: During our major renovation, an additional 9-meter long steel beam suddenly became necessary (the structural engineer had overlooked something). The shell construction company wanted about 5000 euros including installation for this. Through research, we found out that the beam only costs about 1000 euros to purchase and were then able to negotiate the total price (beam plus installation) down to about 3000 euros through bartering-style negotiation. Since the problem arose ad hoc, we couldn't quickly use anyone else for it either. 3) In one or two cases, a craftsman we preferred was 5-6% more expensive than another. We said that if he could offer the same price, we would take him; otherwise, the other one. In that case, they matched the price immediately. Otherwise, we would actually have taken the other one.