Bargain hunter's creed: Ask and you just might receive

My neighbor, Sherri Magill, saw me outside my house in the Euclid-St. Paul neighborhood of St. Petersburg late last year and told me, "You put 40 bucks into my pocket today!"

When Sherri had been over to our house for a drink, she had admired a funky new yellow chair in our living room. When she asked how much we had paid, I shared with her the magic shopping question that would put the price of a nice dinner into her pocket:

"Hey, do you have any room on this?"

It's no sure thing, but it works more often and at more retail establishments than you would imagine, especially when accompanied by an aw-shucks tone and a meaningful glance at a price tag.

The chair already had been marked down from $450 to $379. I asked the magic question, and the guy knocked off another $50. Sold. I had guessed he'd come off the price only another $20. But I left the question open ended and discovered he had even "more room" than I'd expected.

Sherri used the question when buying a mattress.

Everyone knows to bargain for a car or a house. But, especially in a down economy, there's a little room to bargain on more items than you realize. Hidden discounts are available at places including hotels, rental car agencies, pharmacies and musical instrument stores. You have a decent chance at getting a discount at just about any business where you deal directly with the owner.

When guitar teacher Joe Pollari of Holiday walks into a music store for a new instrument, he's not foolish enough to whip out the plastic and pay list price, no matter how sonorous the guitar.

"There's a big markup," he said, often 100 percent of wholesale price or more. "Sometimes, they are already kind of marked down," he said, but there's usually still some bargaining room.

Pollari has his own line for music stores: "Are you going to give me a professional discount? Give me a break here, man!" Sometimes it works.

What happens when the person you're trying to haggle with says no? You have a few options: Ask to talk to someone with more authority to adjust the price. Walk away and see if the salesperson shouts a lower price at your back. Or go for what residents of New Orleans call lagniappe, a little something extra thrown in for free.

Pollari said that if the price of a guitar is already pretty good and the salesperson won't go lower, he'll get the store to throw in a few free extras to seal the deal: a tuner, a strap, a case or at least picks and extra strings. These items cost the store only a little, but you would pay a big markup to buy them.

At a furniture store, the freebie might be free stain guard, delivery or extra throw pillows.

The fact is, pricing is nearly arbitrary at some businesses.

In high school, I worked as a pharmacist's assistant.

When the pharmacist entered a prescription into the computer, he could pick among a dozen price codes. If he knew the customer was shopping around on price, he'd mark up his cost only 10 percent. He could give someone a steal on birth control pills to get her business. But later he would charge a 300 percent profit on generic penicillin.

I saw him deal with hundreds of customers. He would give anybody 10 percent off if they asked - there was a special key on the register he would punch to deduct it. He was the owner. None of the rest of us could do this without asking his permission.

Hotels price their rooms over a broad range of rates as well. The rate you never want to pay is "rack rate," the rate printed on the back of the room door. Almost no one pays this high amount, so most customers feel as though they've gotten a good deal when they see it printed there.

When reserving a room, ask for the best rate. When it's quoted, see if you can get a lower rate still.

Gregg Laskoski, spokesman for AAA Auto Club South in Tampa, said you can try all sorts of angles.

"One thing people might want to do is go through their wallets and look at any of the cards they've got: airline frequent flier, a frequent patron of a hotel chain," he said, mentioning his organization's card as well.

If you don't get a great rate over the phone, or even if you do, sometimes you can call the hotel the day before you arrive and try for a better one. If the hotel is full, the answer will be no. If it's nearly empty, the clerk may lower the rate further to keep you from snapping up a great rate down the street.

And when you check in, try for some lagniappe.

"It's always best to ask if there's any possibility of upgrading to the concierge level," said Jim Sweat, also of AAA. "That is going to give you breakfast, a newspaper, maybe drinks. Or ask for ocean view, or bay view or whatever, at the same rate you booked."

If a premium room would have sat empty anyway, the hotel usually will give it to you, he said.

No matter the vendor, asking is key to getting discounts. It doesn't really matter much what you say, as long as you muster the nerve to speak up - and to indicate that you need an added incentive to commit to a purchase.

You can ask if they have "room." You can offer a specific lower price. You can inquire whether the store will give you a professional, military, senior citizen, off season or cash discount. And remember to keep trying until they say no or you get a price that satisfies you.

Last week, my wife and I saw a great side table to go next to the funky yellow chair. (It's a Parisian water meter cover set in a handmade wrought-iron base. Trust me on this.) It was at an art boutique, marked $235.

I left the store and checked online. The manufacturer was selling the table for $214 plus shipping, which was high because the thing is made of cast iron.

I went back to the store and asked the clerk if she had any room. She said the owner was out. I asked if she would take my number.

The owner called later that day and left me voice mail: She would be happy to give me 10 percent off. I figured she had more room. I stopped by the next day when she was in.

"Could I offer you $200?" I asked. "That's what I have to spend on a table."

She got out her calculator, and when she hit the equals sign, she winced. "Okay," she said without smiling. I peeled off the twenties and paid before she could change her mind.