The Power of Asking Nicely

Can I have that?

What was I asking for? A dozen bicycles. Nice ones. Ok, not your $2,000 mountain bike nice, but not your Walmart special either. My apartment sent out a notice saying that they were going to be cutting bikes off of the bike racks that didn't have the apartment tag, and people had a month to get them removed. A month went by, and I asked the apartment if I could have some of the bikes. They said yes. 

Not only did they say yes, but I got to pick from about 50 bikes that they had removed and take the ones I wanted. These bikes are worth about $100-200 each, and most only needed minor tune ups, and a healthy amount of oil. I was a bike mechanic on my LDS mission. Piece of cake. I've made about $3000 from it so far, got my wife a classic teal beach cruiser with a cute little basket, started putting together a bike for myself, and have a few more bikes to sell. I should get the last parts in the mail today to list a Giant Mountain Bike for sale. I also was able to build an electric bike out of one for myself. All of that because I just asked for it. The pictures above are a few of the bikes that have sold so far. Later today I'm going to ask the apartment when they plan on cutting more bikes off the racks.

I asked for freebies from Grad School:

It's not the first time I've asked for something big either. The most expensive thing I've asked for? An additional $35,000. I applied to graduate schools and had been offered scholarships at a couple programs. BYU offered me a half tuition scholarship, and Indiana University offered me  about $15,000. I told both that I wanted more. BYU had maxed out what they could give me. IU offered me an additional $35,000 of scholarship, free health insurance, and they set up my dream internship for me, just because I asked. Needless to say, I'm not at BYU. Also, when I started applying for graduate programs, I asked all the schools I was applying to for application fee waivers. Applying for graduate programs ranges from about $50-100. If you're planning on applying to very many programs, it gets really pricey. Ask for freebies. About half the schools gave them to me.

Ask for Discounts

I was at the Tower of London. We were going to go see the castles, the crown jewels, the armory, and all of the incredible history there. No, I didn't ask if I could have any of the royal treasury, but they wanted to charge me 35 pounds to get in. I asked if there was a student discount. I saved about $10 in US currency because I asked for a student discount. On that same trip, I did the same thing at Stonehenge, and a couple other historical sites. I did the same thing at the apartment I'm in now. We save $25 a month on rent because I'm a graduate student, and because I asked for a discount. Places all over offer discounts, especially student discounts. Ask. Often people feel weird asking for discounts. I feel weird paying more than I have to, and if I look weird doing it? I'll look weird all the way to the bank.

Be Personal

I recently finished a fantastic book on improving your negotiating skills, and the author had some fantastic ideas. The author was a hostage negotiator for the FBI. It was his job to, essentially, get everything he wanted from a deal and not give the other guy hardly anything. He was very good, and has learned from many of his experiences, which he shares in the book, to business. They work.

One thing he recommends is to make yourself more human and personal, and then ask for a favor. Essentially, he says to say to go up to a sales clerk and say, "Hi, I'm Bob. What's the Bob discount for this item?" It works. I also have a friend that asks what the single mom discount is. People like to help people. People don't like helping grumps. Make them see you as a person, and ask for the discount.

I'd also highly recommend the book, Never Split the Difference. Check it out. It was a game changer for me.