Gina帶美國老板Jason去購物,Jason讓Gina教他砍價。
Jason: So what's the general amount that they mark up by? Thirty percent? Forty?
G: They could mark it up seventy percent or even one hundred! That's why you've got to have an in-depth working knowledge of local prices - that way, if they quote an outrageous price, you can just laugh.
Jason想知道購物中心商品標價一般要比合理價格高出多少,mark up是把抬高價格的意思,相反的,mark down 則是減價銷售。Gina說,有時價格會故意標高70%,甚至100%。這也就是為什么要了解當?shù)氐膬r格行情,have an in-depth working knowledge of something,是深度了解的意思,in-depth is spelled i-n in, and d-e-p-t-h, depth, in-depth,這樣如果別人quote an outrageous price,抬出宰人的高價,outrageous is spelled o-u-t-r-a-g-e-o-u-s, outrageous, 意思是超乎尋常的,另外需要注意的,要價動詞用的是 quote, q-u-o-t-e, quote.
J: In America we generally can't get away with bargaining in many shops. The prices are listed on the price tag and that's that. Sometimes you can get a discount, but it's usually never more than ten percent or so.
G: In China, pretty much all prices are negotiable. Some vendors tell me they actually respect buyers who can drive a hard bargain.
J: That's interesting.
Jason說,在美國,商店都是明碼標價,The prices are listed on the price tag. Price tag,是價格標簽的意思,有時也能享受優(yōu)惠discount, discount,是減價、打折的意思,但是一般很少超過百分之十。Gina說,在中國,幾乎所有價格都可以砍,negotiable is spelled n-e-g-o-t-i-a-b-l-e, negotiable,是可以商量的意思。有些賣主甚至更瞧得起會砍價的買主,drive a hard bargain,是固定用法,意思是會砍價。
G: Yes...but of course the seller will always try to win the bargaining battle...that's the nature of the game.
J: Yeah, it is like a game, isn't it? Both people are bluffing, just like in poker.
G: That's right. But you have to get a sense of where the bottom line is. After a while you learn to recognize a look in the seller's eyes that says: I'm really not going to go any lower.
確實,砍價就象打牌,討價還價的雙方都要虛張聲勢,bluff is spelled b-l-u-f-f, bluff, bluff,是虛張聲勢的意思。Gina 說,沒錯,關(guān)鍵是要識別賣主的底線,bottom line,要能從賣主的眼神里看出,他真的不會再降價了。