Entry Last Update: 04/23/2001
Description: Bargaining represents the knowledge of how to talk, cajole, or threaten someone into giving you a better value in a transaction.
Who Can Learn It: Anyone can learn Bargaining.
What It is Supposed to Do: Allow you to potentially get more coins for the items that you sell to a merchant or pay less for the items that you buy.
What it Does: Exactly what it is supposed to do. Bargaining appears to be fully implemented at this time, though it will not work on all "shop" transactions (most noticeably SHOP IMPLANT).
Activation: SHOP HAGGLE (SHOP HAGGLE SELL [ITEM] CONFIRM or SHOP HAGGLE BUY [ITEM NUMBER]).
Usefulness (Low Levels): Low. You will usually be unsuccessful when haggling, and so will make LESS money than if you sold things normally.
Usefulness (Mid-Levels): Moderate. Your successes should outnumber your failures when haggling. At this point, you are making slightly more than you normally would (which will eventually make up for all of the money you lost at earlier levels).
Usefulness (High Levels): Moderate. You are successful most of the time when haggling, and are making a decent amount of extra silver from the skill.
How to Practice: SHOP HAGGLE SELL everything you can find, including the sacks/boxes/bags you find on creatures. Haggle-sell as many items "separately" as possible (take cheap items out of the bags and sell them rather than just selling the bag). The more items you haggle-sell, the faster your skill will increase.
Tips: At low levels, do not haggle-sell "expensive" items, as you will lose a large amount of silver on their sale. Find the shop with the best resale prices and sell your items there.
Unconfirmed Rumors (May or May Not Be True): Charisma, Voice, and Appearance may all affect your Bargaining skill.