Because of strong advertising laws, the displayed price is normally the purchase price for most goods sold in New Zealand. The principle The price stated is the price you pay is strongly ingrained in New Zealand culture.
Most retailers will not negotiate on price, though some have a formal policy of matching the competition and will match or even discount their prices for you if you can find a better price for the exact same product elsewhere. However, this seems to be changing as there are stories about people finding appliance and electronics stores very willing to negotiate on price in order to get business, especially if you're looking at high-end items or have a shopping list of multiple high-priced items. Some places you have to ask for a discount, while others have salespeople that offer discounts on pricey goods as soon as they approach you. Other than high end appliance stores haggling is generally viewed as extremely rude. As a customer you are seen as wasting a shopkeeper's time because it is assumed that they have priced the good at a reasonable price and as a shopkeeper you would be wasting the customer's time if you overpriced the item expecting customers to haggle.
If you are in New Zealand for an extended period of time, the website Trademe provides a similar business model to overseas giant Ebay. However Trademe has a greater focus on Direct Debit based trading and minimal to no fees required upon an item's initial listing.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about New Zealand
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in New Zealand - updated Apr 2024
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New Zealand Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
