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Haggling is an age-old art form and while some people never seem to pay full price for anything, the majority of us take the ticket price as a finalised price without even testing the water for compromise. Haggling is not only appropriate for physical products but payment methods as well. Why pay hundreds or thousands of pounds over the original cost of a Mountain bike just because you’ve chosen to take advantage of mountain bike finance? Very few people are able to pay the full price of a car all in one go and so many dealers offer comprehensive finance packages ensuring that the cars they have sold will bring them a profit. Just like cars, mountain bikes are an expensive commodity and people want to spread the cost over a number of months or years. More and more dealers are offering mountain bike finance as a way to maintain their sales and attract new customers looking to purchase a bike without committing the full price all in one go.

Finance can be expensive. Make no mistake that dealers offering finance schemes are predominately interested in making a profit. However if you are willing to haggle you will often find yourself paying less for the price of the mountain bike and sometimes you can even net yourself some freebies!

Buying a mountain bike over the internet can be one of the cheapest ways to purchase a new bike at a good price. Most internet dealers offer finance packages with 0%-10% interest options. If you are flexible on the type of bike you’re after, shop around and you will be able to find a cheap bike with a 0% finance deal. Although there is normally a delivery charge of around £20, the difference in price of buying the same bike in a shop is normally much higher, so you are still saving when shopping through the internet. There is the added advantage of purchasing your bike online as a huge choice is available to you by simply clicking your mouse a few times. To access the same number of bikes in a shop you would have to spend all day visiting different suppliers, adding petrol costs onto the final price of your bike!

If however, you would prefer to see and test some bikes before you buy, shops are still able to offer good deals on finance as well as the cost of bikes, they just do not want to tell you about them! If a large retailer states that they are unable to reduce the amount of interest on their finance deals or tells you that the ticket price for a bike is final, walk away. They will be reluctant to lose a sale and will probably give in to some of your demands. As well as reducing the cost of paying by mountain bike finance, if you are confident enough and command the art of persuasion, you could end up walking away with free insurance, an extended warranty or free accessories such as a helmet or comfy bike seat.

So remember, when you are buying a mountain bike HAGGLE! Dealers are reluctant to lose a sale and will normally grant concessions if they think that you might walk away without spending any money. Not only can you get discounts off the products but also mountain bike finance and extra accessories. Confidence and eye contact is the key to success when haggling. Put these tips to good use and soon you will be enjoying your brand new mountain bike!

Second meeting of African organisations on bicycle micro finance, July 2008 Jinja Uganda