So this week was Carpet Week, and I am happy to say that it is finally behind us!
First of all, I've never bought carpet before. I had no idea what I was doing. I asked for advice on Facebook, but seemingly got a lot of anti-carpet protests instead. That was not what I was looking for. The majority of my house IS hardwood and tile, people. The only place I have carpet is a) on the stairs, and b) in the bedrooms. I do not even have carpet in the hallway, or even the landings to the stairs. So I was averse to the comments that I should only do tile or wood. I already have it!! And I do not want to get out of my bed and put my feet on tile or wood. So there. I had to figure it out on my own.
I went to five different carpet retailers in my area, and I knew I had to put my game face on, because let's face it-- they're salesman, and they want to sell you. But I went in armed with my dad's advice-- don't let them sucker you, and you have room to make a deal-and-steal in this economy. The first place I went was
Jack's; they have a good reputation and quality carpet. The salesman could tell I wasn't sold, though, and that opened the door for a little bargaining. We bargained stair price (which I got for free-- typically $250), carpet pad (upgraded pad worth $500-- for free-- took some haggling), and he offered free installation, free furniture moving (regardless of the number of pieces), and free take away. This did not all happen on the first stop, though. I went in, told him what I wanted, we looked, he explained some things. He knew I was shopping and threw down what he was offering for my business. He knew I had one foot out the door. I said, "We'll see.... I'll be back." And I left. That was the BEST thing I could have done. Ironically, Will and I also got schooled in bargaining at
Dave Ramsey the same week, and I discovered that, hey! I did pretty good, without having the class yet! What Dave calls "Walk Away Power" is one of the major basic rules of negotiating big purchases. These people WANT your business, WANT to make a sale, and WANT you to come back-- and they're willing to do just about anything. I'll give you more on that later.
So after making a similar run to several different retailers, I ended up back at Jack's when I realized that this guy (Tim) really was making me the best deal for my money. That's when the haggling began. However, I STILL didn't give him my business right away. Then it was, "I have to run all this by my husband. We make joint decisions for major purchases. I'll be back with him on Saturday." This was a Thursday. He probably thought he'd never see me again, which is why he called me that evening to reiterate how much he wanted my business, and what he'd do to get it. Usually that would annoy me, but for the first time, I appreciated it. It made me feel like I was giving the right guy my business; that he cared. Of course, he could probably give two squats, but that was what he was aiming for, and he did it well. Now THAT'S a good salesman. Because a good salesman knows-- money is emotional. People don't want to part with it. And if you make them feel good about parting with it, then they just may give you their business. Which we did. Will and I went back that Saturday, I let him explain everything to Will; he'd already made notes on the negotiations we agreed on, and Will looked at the carpet. I really wanted multi-colored flecked carpet-- which we got. There were three colors that interested us; and looked really good, and I liked the darker carpet, something different than we already had. However, we had to make a choice based on resale (since we will likely be moving in just a couple of years) and we went with Will's choice, Harmony. It was the
Mohawk SmartStrand carpet, by the way. It was similar but not quite the same, and definitely a higher grade quality than what we already had. Tim, who is the manager of the Jack's Carpets in the Houston area and runs about sixty crews, has worked at Jack's for 25 years. He seemed as passionate as you can get about carpet. And he really trusted in his carpenters, so that was good. He even came out himself to do the measurements later that day. While figuring it up the cost for 1037 square feet, he questioned the downstairs closet. "Not worried about it," I said. The carpet inside was fine, and who really cares? He said, "Nope, it's gotta be done. I'll throw it in for free." Well, if you're going to do it for free..... okay. He set a lay down date for a week away, and gave us the instructions. Basically, unhook all your electronics, and pack everything up. EVERYTHING. In a box. Like you're moving. Oh, Lawd.
While packing everything up in boxes was a real pain in the ass and took some time, sweat, and a few tears, it did do one thing really awesome for me. It pushed me to complete my nesting. I know I've written about my nesting frenzy before, and it has been in full blown feathering mode around here. However, my closet was like the Last Frontier. It was time to get rid of some things. By the end of it all, everything in my house has been touched, moved, organized, or donated in the last three months. EVERYTHING. Wow. I feel super-cleansed; and everything has a home, and that makes me feel sooo happy. But before we could get to that happy part, we had to get this carpet down. We left all the boxes in rooms to be moved around along with the furniture. Everything that didn't have a box, including all my clothes on the bottom rod in our closet, went into our two bathrooms upstairs. Crammed, is more like it. Will actually had the swell idea of using our ironing board for all my clothes to lay on, and that was awesome. But EVERYTHING in these two bathrooms, including linens, comforters, shoes in the bathtub, lamps, TVs.... you name it. We had a little wiggle room into one bathroom for use. And luckily, we have another bathroom downstairs for brushing teeth, etc. We did this all over the weekend, starting Saturday, for the Big Day on Tuesday. So we had to live like this for a few days, and if you know me, then you know the disarray would cause major anxiety in this mama. My mom and Will kept encouraging me, so I lived.
The two guys showed up on Tuesday about 11:00 am, and I was a little worried about a) being alone (you just never know) b) supervising them (I'd already moved jewelry, etc. to a place they would never be, but we wanted some of the boards underneath to be secured to stop some creaking, Will didn't want to unplug the internet, we didn't want them to break anything, especially the posters off our bed, since one is a little weary, amongst some other things) and c) the cat. She was not taking to this kindly at all. She'd been freaked out since the weekend because she thought we were moving, and her bed (under our bed) was no longer in its place. She did not like. And, she isn't keen on strangers. And, I'm not keen on strangers leaving the door open (if you know me, again, you are laughing right now, because my Sasha traumas of getting out the front door are replaying in your head. Not pretty. Or fun!)
But, as usual, Will is my knight in shining armor, coming to my rescue yet again! He told his boss that morning (after talking with the guys on the phone) that he had to come home to help me. I'm seven months pregnant for the love of God, we have a skittish cat, and he didn't want me alone in our house with two African-American strangers all day. In his eyes, this wasn't going to happen. His boss (begrudgingly, but understandably) let him come home to take care of me, the cat, and our business. He breezed through the door about five minutes after their arrival and took over. I was on Sasha duty all day. After she clawed the heck out of me when they showed up, she went into the laundry room for awhile until we got things started. When we went to check on her, she was behind the freakin' washing machine! What the heck?! I coaxed her out, though, and she came to me, so I put her leash on her (yes, my cat has a leash. It came with a collar one time. But, that day, I was glad I had it!) and her and I went to the couch. I put her under a blanket, and after that she was fine, because she thought she was hidden, and that was all she wanted. She did not twitch a muscle all day. We sat there for seven hours, but she did not move. Will, my mom (who stopped by several times), and I took turns on duty, but it was mostly me, and that was fine. She IS my cat. At the end of it all, the carpet looked awesome, all the furniture was put back into place, the cat was safe, AND I sold one of the guys my speaker and amp that I was going to sell on Craigslist anyways. I can't be bumpin' The Wiggles going down the street with Hayden, so back to regular car stereo speakers for me. All in all, a successful day! The next day, my mom came over bright and early, ready to work. We got everything out of the bathrooms and into their "homes," along with some more cleaning out, and at the end of it all-- yippee, that happy, clean, organized-finally feeling! It was glorious! We pick up Hayden's furniture tomorrow (Grant is helping with that), and the nursery will be under construction for just a short time until completion. Then, we will OFFICIALLY be ready for Hayden's arrival! It has certainly been a quick but enlightening ride; and quite an experience. And the new carpet feels so good underneath my toesies. I am one happy mommy-to-be! I couldn't have done it without the help of my family! Thank you all for all your help!
I'll leave you with Dave's Lucky Seven Basic Rules of Negotiating, as promised. If you are willing to implement them, you will be amazed-- it WORKS! And you can get some great deals on big purchases.
- Always tell the absolute TRUTH. The salesman has to know the truth of the whats, hows, and whys of your purchase to make sure you get what you want. And, just how far you're willing to go.
- Use the power of CASH. (This wasn't feasible for us at this moment in time, but it will be in the future. I guarantee I could've knocked off another $500 or more if I'd pulled $3000 in cash out of my pocket and said this is what I have, and I won't give a penny more (for what cost us $3500.)) And the reason is that:
- Cash is EMOTIONAL.
- Cash is VISUAL.
- Cash has IMMEDIACY. Pretty self-explanatory.
- Understand and use "walk away power." This helps you keep an emotional distance from the product and the salesman. Don't just throw yourself at their mercy! THEY should be working for YOU; not the other way around. Let them know you are able and willing to take your business elsewhere if they will not meet your demands. Because if they won't, someone else WILL. And don't let them make you EMOTIONAL with "this special is only for today" or, "I don't know if I can make the same deal later." They WILL if they want your business. If you are already attached to something, and they see that, then all room for negotiations come to a quick close-- they know they've got you! Why negotiate, when they know you're willing to do anything for it?
- SHUT UP! Let them do all the talking! See how far they will go to sell you! Ask questions, gather information, and listen! The "smile and nod" does wonders.... especially when coupled with Walk Away Power. That's when they are running after you in the parking lot. You know it happens all the time!
- "That's NOT GOOD ENOUGH." When haggling, and they are trying to downplay your demands, use this phrase. Someone else WILL be good enough to meet your demands. Henry Kissinger himself used these famous words when dealing with foreign policy as Secretary of State. If he can use them on world leaders to get what he wants, then surely you can use them to your advantage when buying a car, home, or CARPET! Kissinger used these words on his own people, even-- he expected nothing less than the best from them. After several times of hearing "It's not good enough," and overcome with frustration, his people would say, "It's the best I have to give!" Then Kissinger would reply, "Now that I have your best work, I'm willing to look at it." This guy did not play. He didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize for nothing, people.
- GOOD GUY, BAD GUY. Ever hear, "I have to talk to my manager"? What a bunch of baloney! This lets the salesman be the "good guy" and he cuts down your negotiation because of his "bad guy" boss. Did he even ask? Or was he just outside smoking a cigarette while you wait? Get to the bad guy and work with him directly. If he has to talk to the manager, offer to just talk to the manager yourself.
- The "IF I" TAKE AWAY TECHNIQUE. It could also be called "nibbling." Throw in a few final "nibbles" and get a deal that really makes you happy. For example, I said, "If I am willing to purchase this carpet from you, I need you to upgrade my carpet pad to the moisture resistant for free," and another that apparently worked, "If I buy this carpet, then I need you to do my stairs free of charge." Let them cave to YOUR demands-- not the other way around.
While these are the seven rules, I'll throw in one more key to successful bargaining-- be patient. Sleep on it. Talk it over with your spouse, and come back tomorrow. It will still be there, and regardless of what the salesman tries to hook you in with, the sale will still be there, too. Don't seem too overeager and make an impulse purchase. Those are the buys you are most likely to regret later. And remember, if you go all goo-goo, ga-ga over a product, then the room for negotiations close once the salesman knows he has you hook, line, and sinker no matter what he says. Hope this helps. Have the courage to apply the rules, and you will be amply rewarded! If it worked for us, it will work for you, too. Good luck!
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