Class 1: New Tactics

    For our first negotiation, I was paired with Tejan. As it turns out Tejan is a hard-baller and natural negotiator.  While I did not leave with the worst deal of the class, I was close.  Hindsight, I should have walked away from buying the car, but by discussing what alternatives remained for me, I was able to bring him down from 10,000 to 8,700.  In the case, our alternative as the car buyer was a beater jeep worth 6,800.  I told Tejan that if we couldn't agree on a fair price that I would feel more comfortable buying the jeep that I said was worth "6,100".  This brought his price down (though still not a fair price as I discovered after the fact).

    During my second negotiation with Baptiste, we were able to barter for much more agreeable terms.  I began a much more authoritative approach by setting the limits. I told Baptiste that we were meeting in the classroom next door, configured the desks, and asked that he sit across from me after I sat down. Next, I began with the salami approach.  The Knight's engines and excalibur case was a more complicated negotiation with more considerations.  These considerations included price per piston, number of pistons, number of defects, if we were advertising for them and whether we could get a discount for free advertising.  We treated each consideration as almost a different transaction.  Ultimately we closed on a deal that made us both content. I ended up buying all 10,000 pistons (though hindsight I should've bartered for fewer), $520 per piston, and no additional fees in exchange for allowing them to advertise their name on their pistons.

    Overall, our first class was an enjoyable and engaging learning experience. I enjoyed the opportunity to try the tactics that I had read about from the text.  Another method that I would like to try for our next negotiation in class for fun is the fait accompli method.  It presents the most risk, but potentially the highest reward.  It's best to use a method like fait accompli in a practice environment before attempting to use it in a real world situation because of the potential risk.