Negotiating tuition, cars etc in a pandemic

Adversity presents opportunities, even in a pandemic. In a changed world, prices that used to be non-negotiable are suddenly open for bargaining.
Financial hardship or uncertainty gives some Americans new leverage to negotiate the costs of some of their biggest expenditures. For others, an expectation of lower-quality products or diminished services opens doors to price reductions or concessions. Buyer’s markets in industries suffering from reduced demand make sellers more willing to deal.
But negotiation is a skill, and bargain-hunters would be wise to school themselves in the do’s and don’ts of potentially difficult conversations. It’s crucial to know what’s reasonable and fair to ask for, especially when looking for discounts on higher education or child care, where haggling is normally unthinkable.
Here are some places to look
for coronavirus discounts: Many schools have protocols for dealing with a change in the financial circumstances of students and their families, and the coronavirus has certainly changed a lot of circumstances. If the school doesn’t have a formal process, then parents and students should be prepared to make a special case by providing detailed information backing their hardship claim.
Schools will be most inclined to boost financial-aid packages for students with strong grades, high campus profiles and the potential to donate to the endowment after graduation, said Beth Walker, author of “Never Pay Retail for College.” And negotiations go better when students themselves take the lead, not their parents.
One common argument for tuition discounts is that online classes are a weak substitute for the real college experience. Maybe that’s true, but saying so won’t provide much leverage unless a student is really ready to walk away from the institution if the school won’t
negotiate.
Students who mean business should arm themselves with information about what other schools would charge, especially those in the student’s home state, and also whether credits could be transferred and how long it would take to graduate after a switch. Competitive numbers might prove persuasive to a school that’s loath to contemplate declining enrollments.
Some schools will give financial-aid offices the authority to negotiate. Others won’t. It’s all new for them, too. Incoming freshmen probably have the most leverage, since schools are nervous about the empty spaces left by high school graduates taking gap years. Sometimes, a school’s inexperience with bargaining can work to a family’s advantage: Ignore a stingy financial aid offer and a school just might come back with a more generous one.
Child-care providers are hurting now, too, so are likely to resist discounting. That means that a parent who bargains too hard might end up dealing with no help at all.

—Bloomberg