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Why People Haggle and How to Respond
Format: Post-call
Runtime: ~8 minutes
Source: Psychology , Richard Thaler's mental accounting and transaction utility (1985); negotiation as identity expression
I want to talk about a type I've run into more times than I can count and that I used to handle wrong, and the thing I figured out eventually that changed how I handle it.
He called for a diagnosis and possible repair. Compressor starting to fail , I could hear it over the phone, actually, when he held the phone up to the unit. That particular heavy-laboring startup. By the time I got there I'd already estimated what I thought I was looking at.
I quoted the repair. It was the number it was , fair to him, fair to me, built on parts cost and labor and the complexity of what I was about to do.
He said: I'll give you three hundred less.
Not can you do better. Not is there any flexibility. He named a number, with the same tone you'd use if we were at a swap meet and he was looking at a belt buckle.
I've thought about this type a lot over the years. The hagglers. They come in a few varieties. There are customers who haggle because money is genuinely tight and they're trying to make it work. That's a different conversation and I try to read it early so I can respond to it correctly.
Then there's this kind. And this kind usually isn't haggling because of the money.
He was well-dressed. The house was well-kept. The truck in the driveway was three years old and I'd seen the model, it wasn't cheap. He didn't need three hundred dollars. He wanted to negotiate. The negotiation itself was the point.
Richard Thaler's behavioral economics research introduced a concept he called transaction utility , the satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) that comes not from the value of the thing itself but from the deal. Whether you paid more or less than you expected, more or less than you feel is fair, more or less than the other party wanted. Paying full price, even for something that's fairly priced, can feel like a loss if you believe you could have gotten it for less. The three hundred wasn't about three hundred. It was about whether he was the kind of person who gets the deal.
I used to get impatient with this. I built my prices fairly. I don't pad them for room to negotiate because I don't want to build them high enough to accommodate haggling , that's not how I want to do business. So when someone tried to knock a number down I used to take it as either a comment on my pricing or an insult to my work.
Neither of those is right.
Give Us A Shout
Thanks for tuning in to Hartzell's Heat & Air, your trusted HVAC experts in Oklahoma and beyond. From Kingfisher to coast-to-coast consulting, we design, install, and maintain smart, efficient systems that deliver year-round comfort.
We're employee-owned, family-run, and powered by 45+ years of experience. Whether it's AI-powered thermostats, geothermal systems, or classic tune-ups, we deliver upfront pricing, expert care, and warranties that back it all up.
🛠️ Book Online:
https://book.housecallpro.com/book/Hartzells-Heat--Air/4a569038b3dc460daf2d5f6497b18351?v2=true
🌐 www.hartzellsheatair.com
📞 (405) 375-4822
🚛 Trane Comfort Specialist • Mitsubishi Diamond Dealer • ClimateMaster Elite
🛡️ VIP Comfort Club • Remote Monitoring • Extended Warranties
📲 Follow us for tips, updates, and real-world installs:
YouTube: @hartzellsheatair6003
X: https://x.com/HartzellsHVAC
Facebook: facebook.com/hartzellsheatair
LinkedIn: Dave Hartzell
Built on trust. Backed by warranty. Designed for comfort.
View all episodes
By Dave Hartzell's Heat & Air - Kingfisher,OKFormat: Post-call
Runtime: ~8 minutes
Source: Psychology , Richard Thaler's mental accounting and transaction utility (1985); negotiation as identity expression
I want to talk about a type I've run into more times than I can count and that I used to handle wrong, and the thing I figured out eventually that changed how I handle it.
He called for a diagnosis and possible repair. Compressor starting to fail , I could hear it over the phone, actually, when he held the phone up to the unit. That particular heavy-laboring startup. By the time I got there I'd already estimated what I thought I was looking at.
I quoted the repair. It was the number it was , fair to him, fair to me, built on parts cost and labor and the complexity of what I was about to do.
He said: I'll give you three hundred less.
Not can you do better. Not is there any flexibility. He named a number, with the same tone you'd use if we were at a swap meet and he was looking at a belt buckle.
I've thought about this type a lot over the years. The hagglers. They come in a few varieties. There are customers who haggle because money is genuinely tight and they're trying to make it work. That's a different conversation and I try to read it early so I can respond to it correctly.
Then there's this kind. And this kind usually isn't haggling because of the money.
He was well-dressed. The house was well-kept. The truck in the driveway was three years old and I'd seen the model, it wasn't cheap. He didn't need three hundred dollars. He wanted to negotiate. The negotiation itself was the point.
Richard Thaler's behavioral economics research introduced a concept he called transaction utility , the satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) that comes not from the value of the thing itself but from the deal. Whether you paid more or less than you expected, more or less than you feel is fair, more or less than the other party wanted. Paying full price, even for something that's fairly priced, can feel like a loss if you believe you could have gotten it for less. The three hundred wasn't about three hundred. It was about whether he was the kind of person who gets the deal.
I used to get impatient with this. I built my prices fairly. I don't pad them for room to negotiate because I don't want to build them high enough to accommodate haggling , that's not how I want to do business. So when someone tried to knock a number down I used to take it as either a comment on my pricing or an insult to my work.
Neither of those is right.
Give Us A Shout
Thanks for tuning in to Hartzell's Heat & Air, your trusted HVAC experts in Oklahoma and beyond. From Kingfisher to coast-to-coast consulting, we design, install, and maintain smart, efficient systems that deliver year-round comfort.
We're employee-owned, family-run, and powered by 45+ years of experience. Whether it's AI-powered thermostats, geothermal systems, or classic tune-ups, we deliver upfront pricing, expert care, and warranties that back it all up.
🛠️ Book Online:
https://book.housecallpro.com/book/Hartzells-Heat--Air/4a569038b3dc460daf2d5f6497b18351?v2=true
🌐 www.hartzellsheatair.com
📞 (405) 375-4822
🚛 Trane Comfort Specialist • Mitsubishi Diamond Dealer • ClimateMaster Elite
🛡️ VIP Comfort Club • Remote Monitoring • Extended Warranties
📲 Follow us for tips, updates, and real-world installs:
YouTube: @hartzellsheatair6003
X: https://x.com/HartzellsHVAC
Facebook: facebook.com/hartzellsheatair
LinkedIn: Dave Hartzell
Built on trust. Backed by warranty. Designed for comfort.