RePost: HELP--florist negotiations

I'm going tonight to book my florist. My mother says I should try to talk him down before I give him the deposit. His price started higher than all the others, then he gave me the LIW discount and he came out lower than all the others (besides Burtons). How should I go about asking him to go even lower? Should I ask him to match the price Burton's gave me? Start lower than that?

I also want different stands than we originally talked about, I think they are more expensive b/c they require larger arrangements..should I ask him to give me them at the price he is giving me now?

I'm bringing FH with me to do the talking cause I get all nervous and I'm a big baby when it comes to negotiating...if he said no I might cry..lol.

Any advice ladies???

I negotiate for a living so I ALWAYS start out lower than expected b/c the number will only go up. If you have a fear of speaking up my best advice is to tell the florist that you love his work but got a better price somewhere else and tell him what the number was (again- start out lower)

Usually the vendor is willing to negotiate b/c they want your business. If he is completely resistant, than don't push. If you did get a better price somewhere else, tell them that you might want to talk to them one more time before you book. He just might surprise you and call you back willing to play with some numbers.

It's hard to give negotiating advice, you have to get a feel for the business or person. But always start out lower. Trust me, the number can go up fast so why start out too high?

If you have any other questions- FM me. Hope this helped a bit