I’m sorry, but this topic of haggling makes me uncomfortable. I’ve owned two independent stores for a total of about 30 years; both were small galleries specializing in handcrafted goods.
I cringe that it’s become more common for people to expect to haggle at *all* businesses. I feel I should point out that an exception must be made with small, independent stores, yet alone ones that feature handcrafted items.
Unfortunately, stores like mine carried very narrow margins. I didn’t order things from reps nor from large corporations with warehouses of inventory. And I definitely didn’t order cheaply made goods from China. I ordered high quality, unique products directly from the American artists/crafts people who made each item to order, aka from scratch.
Being married to one, I can also attest to the fact that he too carries very narrow margins! He does his best to avoid annual price increases so he will receive more & larger orders from his retailers. But this often means ordering up to two years of expensive raw goods in order to get the best prices from those suppliers, and he carries these costs on his books for a long time before his invoices are ultimately paid.
Bottom line: It’s almost always difficult for these stores to give discounts, unless it’s free shipping for a phone or web order, or if the item is drop shipped to the customer’s gift recipient. Shipping is a different budget line item, not tied to the product’s price.
Please don’t assume that all stores, businesses and organizations are created with the same business model.
If I’m not pushing my luck any further (!), please support your local small businesses. The Amazons of the world have done huge damage to too many mom & pop stores, and therefore, local economies. ☹️
Thanks for your understanding & sorry to “preach”!
