The master of negotiation

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I went to the big sports memorabilia show downtown yesterday. The Missus and I had gone Friday, so I had a pretty good lay of the land when I went in. We also got there about 2:30, with the show closing at 4.

Too late, you think? Nay. This is the perfect time to get a deal. Especially when the vendors are on the third floor of a building with only one elevator. I'm sensing deals.

One thing you may not know about me: I am the master of negotiation. I have broken car dealers across the state on multiple occasions and have weaseled my way into places I had no business being because I could work the magic. So I did it again yesterday.

When we went over Friday, there were a few things I saw that interested me. One of them was a Washington Redskins full-sized helmet signed by some prominent retired players. It had a price tag of $225. The vendor selling it was from the D.C. suburbs on the Maryland side, which also equates to a damned long way from home.

So I decided to wait him out.

"Wow, 3:15," I started. "Almost done, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Gonna suck carrying all that stuff down. How long was the drive coming down?"
"26 hours."
"Hmm..that'll probably put you back around D.C. at rush hour on Tuesday. That sucks."
"Yeah," the guy said. "I told you, I'm not moving off that price."
"Oh, I know," I replied. "Just trying to figure out if I want to get it. It's still a bit more than I want to do."

So I kept up. Reminding him about carrying the stuff back down to the car, carrying it ALL THE WAY BACK to Maryland with nothing to show for it but a big gas bill, a backache from staying at Motel 6 for a week and sore legs from carrying stuff back and forth.

Finally, the guy loses his temper a bit. "Tell me why the hell I should drop my price $75 just because you Fing say so," he snaps.

I smile.
"I can do that. There's only one person in the Houston metropolitan area who gives a flying F about the Washington Redskins and he's standing in front of you. If you want to be a hardass and lose a deal, suit yourself. Or we can do business and you get something for your trouble."

$150 later, the helmet's upstairs on the top of the curio cabinet. Always be closing.