SmartData’s Almost-Free Pens

I’ve just seen haggling taken to a new level. A marketing company called us up and offered us 100 executive-type pens, branded with our company information, with no commitment to buy. They delivered them, and they’re… okay… but they really don’t fit the company image. The total value of the pens is £290, and we’re not paying that much for a design that doesn’t suit us. But the marketing company knows that they can’t re-print the pens, and they want to make some money on them (or, at least, lose as little as possible… and it would cost them money to have their courier pick them up). And so, over several phone calls, co-worker Gareth haggled with them, as follows:

Them: £290?
Gareth: free.
Them: £150?
Gareth: free.
Them: £100?
Gareth: free.
Them: £75?
Gareth: free.
Them: Really, we can’t possibly give them to you for less than £75.
Gareth: Okay then, you’ll have to send a courier to pick them up. (I’d suggested that he also say that our office hours are 9am to 9:30am on Monday mornings only, unless it’s raining in which case it’s 4:30pm to 5pm) Wow… how much is that going to cost you, out here to the West coast of Wales?
Them: Look, go ask your director – £75?
Gareth: (background noise) free.
Gareth begins to get bored.
Gareth: Okay then, £40.
Them: £50.
Gareth: £45, and you can throw in a catalogue and we’ll read it.
Them: Done.

You’ve got to love any haggling where you start at ‘free’ and stay there for as long as possible. They’re not bad pens, but we’ll be using them here rather than giving them to people…