Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1146.
Negotiating with a street vendor.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1146.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is a dialogue between Sean and Patrice about trying to buy something from a person who sells things not in a store but on the street.
Let's get started.
Just look at the quality of that.
You won't find a finer one anywhere.
It's nice, but it's more than I want to spend.
Okay, just for you, I'll knock off 10%.
What do you say?
I think it's still too pricey.
I think I'll pass.
Wait!
Don't be so hasty.
What you have there is a one of a kind item.
You don't want to pass up something this special.
I'll think about it.
How about if I throw in a second one for the same price, a two for one offer?
I meant to say that there aren't many out there like it.
I just happen to have two.
How about it?
I think I'll shop around first.
This offer is only good right now, so don't walk away.
Like I said, I'll think about it.
All right.
Name your price.
Make me a reasonable offer and I'll let you have it.
How about 30% off?
That's highway robbery.
I'm just a street vendor trying to make a living here.
All right, you have a deal.
You drive a hard bargain.
You wouldn't be looking for a job, would you?
Sean says to Patrice, just look at the quality of that.
The use of the word just here is mostly for emphasis.
It could be a good thing or a bad thing.
When Sean says just look at the quality of that, he means it is something of very high quality.
He wants Patrice to pay attention to it.
He says, you won't find a finer, that is, better, one anywhere.
Patrice says, it's nice, but it's more than I want to spend.
To spend, S-P-E-N-D, means to use your money to buy something.
Sean says okay, just for you, meaning not for any other customer, but just for you.
I'll knock off 10.
I should mention that sometimes people who are selling things will use that expression just for you, to make you feel special, of course, to make you think that that you are the only one that this vendor, this person selling something, would give a discount to.
Sean says he'll knock KNOCK off 10%.
To knock off is a phrasal verb that here means to lower the price of something.
Sean is going to lower the price or knock off 10%.
What do you say?
Sean asks Patrice what her reaction is.
That's what he means by what do you say?
Really, he's asking, will you buy it at that price?
Patrice, however, responds, I think it's still too pricey.
When you say something is pricey, P-R-I-C-E-Y, you mean it's expensive.
It costs too much.
Then she says, I think I'll pass.
To pass here means not to do something, to decide against, in this case, buying something.
What Patrice is doing here, of course, is telling the vendor, the person selling the product, that she doesn't want it.
Sean says, however, wait, don't be so hasty.
To be hasty H-A-S-T-Y means to do something without thinking about it carefully.
To do something quickly.
He says, what you have there is a one-of-a-kind item.
One of a kind, K-I-N-D, means unique, different from everything else.
Sean, of course, is trying to convince Patrice to buy this thing.
She doesn't seem interested, so he's trying to...
Give her reasons to buy it.
He says To pass up something is a two-word phrasal verb, which here means something similar as to pass.
It means to decide not to do something that is available or that is being offered to you.
In this case, not to buy the thing that the vendor is selling.
We're not sure exactly what that thing is.
Patrice says, I'll think about it.
Usually, when people say I'll think about it, especially if they're at a store, it usually means no, I don't really want it.
But you're being nice.
You're being polite.
It's something people will often say to a person who is selling something when they don't really want to buy it.
Sean knows this, and so he then says how about if?
Meaning what if I throw in a second one for the same price, a two for one offer?
To throw T-H-R-O-W in something is to add something without charging something extra to the person.
So if you go to the store to buy a new suit, which usually includes a jacket and a pair of pants, the store might throw in a tie.
It may say, well, if you buy this suit, we'll give you a tie for free.
That's basically what they're saying.
Sean is saying that he can throw in a second one, meaning another one of what it is that Patrice is looking at to buy for the same price, a two-for-one offer.
Two for one means that you only pay the price of one thing, but you get two of that thing.
Patrice says, I thought you said this was one of a kind.
Patrice doesn't understand, and neither do we, how you could have two things that are one of a kind.
That doesn't make any sense.
If it's one of a kind, there's only one of it in the whole world.
Sean, knowing that, of course, he was lying, says, did I?
Meaning, did I say that?
I meant to say what I really should have said, that there aren't many out there like it.
Meaning, there aren't very many of them.
I just happen to have two.
How about it?
I just happened to means almost by chance or fortunately.
How about it is Sean's way of asking whether Patrice is now interested in buying the product.
Patrice says, I think I'll shop around first.
That's another thing a person will say when he's not really interested in buying something from a shop owner or a salesperson.
To shop around simply means to go to other stores and look for things you want to buy.
Sean says this offer is only good right now, so don't walk away.
When Sean says the offer is only good right now, he means he can only give Patrice this price right now.
If she comes back tomorrow, he won't be able to give her that low price.
Sean tells Patrice not to walk away, meaning don't literally walk away from him right to go to say, another store because if she does, she won't be able to get this good price.
Patrice says, like I said, I'll think about it.
Sean says, all right, name your price.
The expression name, N-A-M-E, your price, means you tell me how much you want. want to pay for it.
You could actually use this phrase name your price in a situation like this one where the person is asking you how much you would pay for something, or in a situation where You need to be paid a certain amount of money to do something.
For example, your friend might ask you to drive him 100 miles tomorrow to go to a certain place.
And you say, well, I'm not sure.
Your friend may say name your price, meaning how much money do I have to give you to drive me to this place tomorrow?
Sean says to Patrice, make me, meaning give me, a reasonable offer and I'll let you have it.
A reasonable offer is a fair price. a fair amount of money.
Patrice says, how about 30% off?
She's asking for a discount of 30%.
Sean says, however, that's highway robbery.
The expression highway, H-I-G-H-W-A-Y, robbery, R-O-B-B-E-R-Y, refers to a situation where one person is getting very little money for what he's selling.
Robbery means to steal something from someone.
Sean says, I'm just a street vendor.
A street vendor is a person who sells things on the street without a store, a permanent place to sell things.
He says, I'm just a street vendor trying to make a living here.
To make a living means to earn or to get enough money to pay for your expenses, your food, your housing and so forth.
Sean is saying that Patrice is asking for too low of a price.
Patrice says, however, take it or leave it.
That phrase take it or leave.
It is used when you are telling the person that this is your final offer.
This is the only thing that you will accept.
If you don't want it, I'm going away.
Take it, meaning accept my offer or leave it, that is, accept.
I'm going to walk away and we are ending our negotiations, our discussions over the price of this object.
Sean says, all right, you have a deal, meaning, okay, yes, I will sell it to you.
Then he says, you drive a hard bargain, B-A-R-G-A-I-N.
To drive a hard bargain means to be very good at getting what you want in a negotiation.
Someone who drives a hard bargain is someone who gets a very low price for something by negotiating very well.
Sean then says you wouldn't be looking for a job would you?
What Sean means is that he thinks Patrice would make a good employee.
She would make a good saleswoman.
And perhaps maybe she would be interested in working with Sean, selling whatever it is Sean sells.
We're still not sure exactly what Sean is selling here.
But whatever it is, we know that Patrice got a 30% discount off of it.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Just look at the quality of that.
You won't find a finer one anywhere.
Okay, just for you, I'll knock off 10%.
What do you say?
I think it's still too pricey.
I think I'll pass.
Wait, don't be so hasty.
What you have there is a one-of-a-kind item.
You don't want to pass up something this special.
I'll think about it.
How about if I throw in a second one for the same price, a two-for-one offer?
I thought you said this was one-of-a-kind.
Did I?
I meant to say that there aren't many out there like it.
I just happen to have two.
How about it?
I think I'll shop around first.
This offer is only good right now, so don't walk away.
Like I said, I'll think about it.
All right.
Name your price.
Make me a reasonable offer and I'll let you have it.
How about 30% off?
That's highway robbery.
I'm just a street vendor trying to make a living here.
Take it or leave it.
Alright, you have a deal.
You drive a hard bargain.
You wouldn't be looking for a job, would you?
Every script on ESL Podcast is one of a kind, thanks to our one-of-a-kind script writer, the wonderful Dr Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again, right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2015 by the Center for Educational Development.
