Now I'm going to get into some more sophisticated negotiation. This can get you an even better deal, even if you've already gotten the price down some. I highly recommend using this tactic, but not everyone will feel comfortable with it. Just read through it and see if maybe you could get it to work for you.

What I'm talking about is the classic "good guy, bad guy" game. Cops are most well known for using this tactic to get a confession from a suspected criminal. But they often play it in a way that's too transparent. It doesn't work if the person you're negotiating with knows you're doing it.

So you need to plan this. And, of course, you need to take someone else shopping with you. If you're married, then both of you should go shopping together. If you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, then take them with you. Even if they don't live with you. Even if they won't be using your bed. You need someone with you.

Even if you don't have a husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend, try to get a friend to go with you. Have them pretend to be your significant other. Here's what you need. You need the salesman to believe that you and the person with you will both be sleeping on this bed. You need him to believe that the two of you are making a decision together.

If you just can't get anyone to go shopping with you, there's still something you can do, but I'll get to that shortly. For now, we'll assume you're shopping with someone who has to agree on any bed you buy. At least the salesman must believe this.

Before you go out, you need to decide who will be the good guy, and who will be the bad guy. I would advise keeping the same role in each store just so you don't forget if you go back later. So once you've got your good guy and your bad guy, how does it work?

This should probably be the last negotiation tactic you use. If you don't think you've gotten a good enough deal, then try this. It worked great when my wife, Lori, and I bought our last bed. I was the good guy. :

We had identified two beds, at two different stores, that we would be happy with. As we were looking at one of them, I asked Lori what she thought. She said she liked the one at the other store better. I said I kind of liked this one, even though it's a little more expensive. But she insisted that the other one was just as good, but less expensive.

Of course, this all took place in front of a salesman. The salesman, seeing that I was on his side, tried to give us a more competitive price. He and I tried to convince Lori that we should get this bed for a couple of minutes. But eventually, Lori lost her patience and said "Let's just go." At which point she left the store. I followed shortly after, looking very helpless. We had a good laugh once we got outside the store.

The point of all this is to get the salesman to work with you. If he's already got one of you, then he'll probably do his best to win the other one over too. He can already taste the sale.

Whatever he does, the two of you should ultimately leave to discuss it. If you want to buy the bed, then go back and get it in a few minutes. If not, then just write down the price in your notebook and continue on.

Perhaps you're even more bold. After your partner walks away, ask the salesman in a pleading sort of way if there's any way to lower the price a little more. You might be able to convince your partner to buy it after all.

If you can manage this, it works great. You can always get a better deal if you have to run the decision by someone else. But what if you just don't have anyone else? Don't worry. There's a solution for that.