How to deal with discount diggers

There’s a certain type of shopper that we are all familiar with and I like to call them discount diggers. These are the eager individuals who seem to want to purchase your goods, but the thing is, they don’t want to pay full price. In fact, they are not only unhappy with paying full price but in some extreme cases, they aren’t happy unless they are getting a discount AND a freebie to boot. These discount diggers are found across all different types of fields ranging from planner sticker enthusiasts to hardcore vintage collectors to moms on a budget, so you had better be ready to deal with them. The thing is, simply asking for a discount isn’t entirely a bad thing. Customers are trained, at least here in the United States, to always shop for a bargain, so simply posing the question should be considered part of the selling and shopping experience. 

The tricky bit is understanding how to answer these queries without turning the customer off but without also underselling your own products. You decided on your prices for a reason. I would hope that you decided on those prices after researching your materials, process, time, and profit margins. I would hope that you are confident enough in your skills and your company to stand by those prices, but there is certainly a time and place to consider offering discounts for your diggers and your regulars. First, I want to offer you a few guidelines for identifying an appropriate or inappropriate request for discounts:

A request is appropriate if it falls into one of these categories: 

1. New customer inquiring about their first purchase 

2. Repeat customer inquiring about serial purchases 

3. Any customer inquiring about wholesale purchases 

A request is inappropriate if it falls into one of these categories: 

1. Any customer demanding a discount as a condition of purchase

2. Any customer who displays aggressive or even passive-aggressive behavior 

3. Any customer who requests a wholesale discount without purchasing wholesale quantities

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