I had a window installer come by recently to quote new windows on my house.

When I asked how the process works, he told me he'd educate me on the products, size the windows, give me a quote, then I'd "beat him up" on price, and then we'd make a deal when we figured out the details.

The throwaway line about haggling over price had me feeling uneasy. I don't know anything about windows let alone how to haggle over their prices.

There are lots of lessons here to unpack. Should you negotiate? If so, when and how? What do you do when price is a factor?

We'll get into that and more.

—kevin