So you think you can haggle?

What is it with Israelis and this idea that everything is negotiable? Now that I wrote it (the blogger's equivalent to saying something out loud) I am thinking "well, why shouldn't everything be negotiable?" But really, I mean, I enjoy the sporadic back and forth price haggling when buying something at the street market, or negotiating to get a service done, but here in Israel, there seems to be no shame nor limit in trying to negotiate things that in countries like the US, one would never think of questioning the price of.

 Having been raised in Colombia, South America, where haggling is common, I thought I was a pretty good haggler. Having lived in the US for 14 years, I lost the edge a little, but I still liked asking for discounts whenever possible. I enjoyed pretending to get up from the table at a car dealer so they would come back with a lower price, or saving some bucks on an on-line deal, but here in Israel, haggling is a whole different ball game. You can ask for discounts on things you never thought would be appropriate to ask. We got discounts on all of our appliances (bought at the equivalent of a small Best Buy), the installer who wanted to sell us four small rubber "thingies" to put between our stackable washer and dryer so it wouldn't wobble, went from 100 sheckels to 50 sheckels in the time it took me to raise an eyebrow at his first quote. I probably could have gotten the price down to 30, but I was too busy laughing at the situation to even ask. I went to the chiropractor yesterday, one who does not take health insurance and charges 500 sheckels for the first visit. Who in their right mind would ask a doctor for a discount? I figured, "when in Rome..." and said "wow, 500 sheckels! is there something you can do about that?" . "Well, lucky you should ask" he said. "I am running a promotion and if you Like my Facebook page, I'll give you the visit for half the price". I was floored! He didn't say anything or advertise his discount, but when I asked, there it was.

I must say, it sometimes feels exhausting being on the defensive thinking they are out to get you, but I've also come to realize that the Colombian saying " if you don't cry, you don't nurse  (el que no llora, no mama)" has never been truer as it is in Israel. So when you are here, go on, haggle.