Sales in Retail: Dealing with Difficult Customers Demanding Discounts

Once again, I work weekends at J.Crew Factory at Grove City Premium Outlets as a Sales Associate. This weekend was rough with customers demanding their teachers discount, their military discount, and sometimes a made-up discount just to get a few dollars off of clothing. One woman attempted to haggle the price of a kill-price clearance pair of socks that was $0.60 to $0.50. At one point I told her I have two quarters in the excess change box, I’ll just pay for it. Retail customers demand their discounts at all times.

Applying this to all sales, I think it’s important to not haggle like crazy on your items you are selling. Customers are always trying to gain an edge on the price to get a better deal, and while it is in the salesman’s toolbox to give a customer a good deal, that can cut too much into the profit of the sale. J.Crew was definitely not making any money on a fifty-cent pair of socks, which I believe was more kill-priced because it was Christmas-themed and overstocked.

Haggling is more about the sales process of bartering than with money, but many customers fail to realize that not all retail environments are set up for negotiation. In large chain stores like J.Crew, prices are set for a reason, and sales associates don’t have the power to offer custom discounts like a local business might. When customers haggle relentlessly, it creates an exhausting shopping experience for employees and undermines the store’s pricing structure. While negotiating might be acceptable at a flea market or a car dealership, it doesn’t translate well to corporate retail, where prices are already marked down to attract customers. At some point, there’s a fine line between getting a fair deal and just nickel-and-diming a business to the point where it’s unsustainable. If every customer were to demand a few extra dollars off, the store wouldn’t stay in business for long.