Bargaining

[Michael]

I'm curious what the stance is on bargaining on the cost of a parrot. Is it customary and is it awkward? I can totally understand bargaining on a used cage to pay $80 instead of $100. But when someone is selling/rehoming a bird and wants $400 but you think that is too much or more than you can pay, what then? Has anyone bargained for a parrot? Or do you swallow it and pay the demanded price because its awkward to bargain over a life?

[Azure Hanyo]

...Hm... It depends. I might bargain if I didn't have the full amount to pay and it was a bird I felt needed me to bring it home. (i.e. if I couldn't have afforded Jovie, I probably would have tried to bargain for her.)

Otherwise I would just pay the full amount. Why do you ask?... Are you looking into a 3rd fid????

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I think it totally depends on the situation, the buyer and the seller. When we were first looking at Scotty, the seller said something along the lines of "I was initially asking X but I'll make a good deal for you". When we pursued that in a low key way during the final transaction, she knocked $100 off, not much of a concession given the price.

Really it's the culture of the buyer and seller... both the broad brush cultural upbringing and the more subtle community culture.

[born2fly]

Doesn't hurt to ask.

When I got WALL-E I emailed the guy and asked if he will be willing to sell him for $100(he was asking $130) and I told him I was willing to pick him up ASAP and he agreed. On a more expensive bird from someone who is in it for profit might be difficult.

[tacotaco]

When I bought Charlie (from a hand raised pet store) they were asking 450$....I was having a really hard time finding any nanday's so I knew that I was going to buy this one as soon as I saw it. I would've gladly paid the 450$ although I know that is higher than what they usually go for..I asked the person helping me if they would take $375, CASH and they said they don't normally do that but they realize that I was very interested and would accept that. They also threw in food and cut his nails before I took him.

When I was searching gold capped conure breeders online before I bought Allegra, a lot of the conures were going for 350-400 bucks. When I spoke with the breeder I used, her ad was posted for $300. We spoke A LOT through emails and I sent her a link to my blog to show her a little about me. She was very pleased, even said she would be "honored" if I bought one of her babies and she offered me to only pay 200$ plus the plane ticket.

I don't think it's wrong to negotiate. A lot of people are making a living off of their profits, but I think true breeders/people rehoming are more focused on the actual people and home that the bird is going to. (or at least i hope so)

[lzver]

With Kylie, the Meyer's parrot I'll be adopting in a couple of weeks, I didn't negotiate the price.

I know that Kylie's current owner really was looking for the right home for her and she has been very accomodating. The price I'm paying for Kylie also includes a large flight cage and whatever toys are in her cage. Since I know how much a Meyer's parrot, cage, toys, etc costs I think she is asking a very fair price.

If I thought someone was asking an unreasonable price and was trying to make a huge profit, I'm certain I would negotiate.

[bmsweb]

..I asked the person helping me if they would take $375, CASH and they said they don't normally do that but they realize that I was very interested and would accept that. They also threw in food and cut his nails before I took him.

Nice work

There is no problem with bargaining over a life, at the end of the day you need to be happy with the with the whole deal. Having said that, I've never bargained for a parrot before, only because the price has been right and that's just the way its worked out due to pure luck.

[notscaredtodance]

I'm rethinking paying full price for this caique I'm considering, since it is a rehome,and 750 is normal retail price. But if the cage is awesome, I think I'd do it. I think as long as you're getting good quality it's worth it. If they try to give me a bird that they advertised as "very loving" and is actually a biter, or the cage they're including is some cheap, $60 cockatiel cage, I'll be pretty mad. I'll not pay more than $350 for the bird and buy my own cage for it.

So I think the consensus is that if its a fair deal, no bargaining. If someone is jacking up the price in the first place, negotiating down to a fair price is reasonable.

Most people do ask for higher than what they want anyways, unless they're really desperate to get rid of a bird. I think it also matters if the bird is a handfed baby from a breeder, or a rehome.

[pchela]

Where do you live that $750 is retail for a WH Caique? Retail here is around $1200 for one and around $800 from a breeder. Here is Texas btw. It's amazing how much prices fluctuate on parrots depending on location.

[notscaredtodance]

Central Ohio. Caiques from breeders are between 600-800, retail is really like 1200 too, but no way I'm ever paying a 100% mark up again. I won't. My senegal was an angel and an exception.