Rejection 58: Name My Own Price at Dollar Tree

With my rejection therapy, I have been trying to stay away from requesting money or free stuff, because it would get old really quickly. I found it much more interesting if I offer people unusual experiences, such as compliments, a dinner with my family, or pumping their gas. Today, I tried one more thing - paying more money above the price tag for a product at Dollar Tree.

This exchange started out a little rough, but quickly stabilized because I didn't take anything personally. I was also presented with a third party - the computer. Since I didn't know how to negotiate with a computer, I couldn't make any progress in my request.

Looking back, I could have tried some creative ways to take computers out of the negotiation, like how I got Jennifer to say 'yes' to me regardless what her boss/HR rep might say, when I was trying to find a job in one day. In today's case, I could have asked her to buy the window wash for a dollar, then I will pay her two dollars for it. But then, there was also a possibility that I might get her in trouble, and that's the last thing I wanted to do.

Learning: 1. No matter how rough the conversation goes, taking your negative emotion out of an exchange is the best way for making any requests. 2. When the other person uses a third and non-negotiable party such as an object, a system, or an organization as the reason for saying 'no', you can try to isolate the person from the third party. But make sure you don't jeopardize that person's relationship with the third party as the result.