Negotiate at Lowes,HD?

[jinman]

If you have purchases totaling $2500 or more, you can submit an itemized list to the Lowe's Project Desk. In about 24 hours, they will give you a competitive bid. For my deck materials purchase, I saved a little over 19% over the retail prices. You have to know exactly what you want and and list it, but you save a bundle by that extra bit of work. You can actually take a pad with you and go around the store writing down items and quantities. It's like shopping with a 24 hour pay delay at a much lower price. Worth it. . .

 

[Gunny]

If you have purchases totaling $2500 or more, you can submit an itemized list to the Lowe's Project Desk. In about 24 hours, they will give you a competitive bid. For my deck materials purchase, I saved a little over 19% over the retail prices. You have to know exactly what you want and and list it, but you save a bundle by that extra bit of work. You can actually take a pad with you and go around the store writing down items and quantities. It's like shopping with a 24 hour pay delay at a much lower price. Worth it. . .

That's exactly what I did when I remodeled our kitchen and dining room, I just worked through their website and wrote down stock numbers along with the description, then took to the project desk. It took them two days, but I saved an average of about 22% from retail prices. The largest discounts were on the kitchen cabinets and they also honored their in-store promotion (buy 10 cabinets, get a sink base free)
If I'm spending anything over $500, I always ask for some type of discount and it's rare that I don't get something off. Like has been said here several times, it never hurts to ask!

 

[Wagtail]

Haggling over the sticker price in large 'goods' stores or for services is the norm here in Aus.

I know too well that it isn't in North America though, but that's because (in my experience) people don't ask for the 'best price' AND the average salesperson is boggled when asked as they don't encounter it. Ask to see the supervisor/floor manager (in a friendly way) and ask again for their 'best price'.

If they won't come down in price, walk away. But walk away in a friendly way, thanking them for their time, as they usually don't like seeing $'s leave the shop and call you back.

Heck, in this wee town that I live in, I usually get a 5-10% discount as a "local"... but that's also at their descretion because I deal with them in a friendly way. 'Nice' works.