more than a purchasing agent. For very little work, he makes a small profit
and is satisfied.
A little bit of knowledge goes a long way when youre buying
something. If you have insight into your real estate brokers botom line, hes
more apt to give you the better price. If you are facile with the insider
words caterers and car salesmen use to pad their profits, if youre savvy to
techniques moving companies and mechanics use to bilk the unsuspecting,
if you are on the lookout for lawyers methods of fattening feesin short, if
you know the ropes, you will not get ripped off. You dont need to know a
lot, just a few insider terms. The pro assumes, since you are convesant in
some esoteric industry terms, you also know the best deal and rock-bottom
price.
No one put it better than my housepainter, Iggy. Sure, he told me, you
gotta know how to talk to a painter. Not me, but a lotta them other guys,
theyre gonna get whatever they can. Its only human nature. Especially if
youre a woman and you deal with em smart, like Im gonna tell you how,
their hair will stand on end. Theyll say to themselves, Hey, dis is no babe in
the woods. I beter deal straight.
OK, Iggy, how?
He said, Tell them guys, Look the walls need very little preping. Youre
not going to have to spend much time scraping and spackling. Its a clean
job. Iggy told me these few sentences alone
can save you hundreds of dollars. Why? Right away the painter knows
you know the score and that the most time-consuming part for him is
preparing the surface (prepping in painterese). Therfore, its his biggest
markup item.
Then, Iggy continued, when you tell em there will be no cutting in
[painting two colors next to each other], your price goes down again. Be
sure and tell em not to leave any holidays [unpainted or sparsely painted
spots] and you get a more careful job. Im only sorry I dont have an Iggy in
every field to give me a crash course in how to deal.
How to Deal When Theres No Iggy in Your Life
Heres how to get the best price and the best deal from anyone. Find
your Iggy Informer. If you have a friend in the business, get the lingo from
him. If not, instead of going straight to the vendor you want to buy from,
visit several others first. Talk with them. Learn a little lingo from each.
ooja
(Ooja)
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