Haggling
The bazaar is a place of give and take, where steep prices are demanded and modest amounts are paid. A merchant often has three prices in mind; the asking price, the normal price and the bargain price. The asking price is just that - what a merchant typically asks for a given item when a buyer points it out. A poor haggler usually ends up paying that price. The bargain price reflects the most successful result of a haggling character, while the normal price reflects a middle ground - a sort of standoff or compromise between buyer and seller. Here’s how the proficiency works in play. A buyer with the haggling proficiency - usually a PC - points to an item for sale and asks the price (Prices are rarely posted). Variations exist, but as a general rule, merchants are assumed to have the haggling proficiency too, with a Wisdom of 14 to back it up. (In other words, their haggling score is 14.) The PC makes a haggling check. The DM does the same for the merchant. Results are as follows:
- If the buyer makes a successful check but the merchant doesn’t, the item will sell for the bargain price - usually with some complaint by the merchant.
- If both the buyer and the seller make successful checks, the merchant will not settle for less than the normal price, regardless of bickering.
- If both the buyer and the seller fail their checks, the merchant won’t settle for less than the normal price.
- If the buyer fails the check but the seller succeeds, the merchant will hold firm to the asking price, and no amount of haggling will change it.
Lacking the haggling proficiency is the same as failing the proficiency check. For example, if the buyer lacks the proficiency, and the seller’s proficiency check fails, then the normal price applies. If the PCs are together, only one of them can haggle for a particular item; a merchant won’t begin anew with another player character. Further, the price of an item determined by haggling applies throughout the business day. Return attempts are useless until the next morning. If the character wishes to buy another item of the same type, the previous price automatically applies. A character can haggle for another kind of item right away but could not, for example, attempt to buy a second waterskin that day from the same merchant for a better price. At the DM’s option, merchants may decide not to haggle with a PC who appears not to have the asking price in hand. (Why should merchants waste effort on a pauper who has no intention of buying?) “Let me see your silver” is a common response to a questionable buyer’s attempt to haggle. Bazaars are packed with all manner of goods, some rare and strange, such as armor imported from other realms or an occasional coffee-pouring automaton. If an item is not commonly listed in the area, the DM should set a normal price, add 50 percent to determine the asking price, and subtract 25 percent from the normal price to find the bargain price. For example, a set of fine crystalline cups might have a normal price of 100 gp. The asking price would be 150 gp, and the bargain price would be 75 gp.
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