So you've already decided that you're going to shop around and see what your options are before you even consider buying anything. Very good.

Now, let's see exactly how shopping around will benefit you. There are really two important reasons to shop around before you even think about buying anything.

First, as I've already said, you need to know what your options are. Let me illustrate this point.

Suppose a salesman tells you that you can get the bed you want at a $500 discount. That's pretty good. It's hard to pass up a $500 discount. But hold on.

How do you know you're really saving $500? Maybe the bed is already $500 overpriced. Maybe there's an equally good bed at another store with an even lower price. You really don't know what a good deal is until you've looked in several stores. You need to have something to compare.

This is exactly why you must forbid yourself to buy when you first start shopping. You need to allow yourself to look around at different stores. You can't do that if you get excited and buy a bed from the first smooth-talking salesman you meet.

Ok. The second reason to shop around is so that you have something to bargain with. You need to be able to tell the salesman that you saw a better price somewhere else. This will almost always cause them to do one of two things.

Some will try to convince you that the other bed you were looking at (with a better price) is not nearly as good quality as the one you're looking at now. They'll go on and on and on about the poor quality of the beds in other stores. Blah, blah, blah.

No matter how many bad things they say about the other bed you looked at, and even if you start believing them 9, just say "Well, it seemed pretty good to me. I liked the way it felt." Never give in to their relentless criticisms. At least not entirely.

But you can also agree with them. Tell them that you do in fact like their bed better, but it's just more expensive. You like this bed better, but the other bed was ok, and it had a better price. This should bring the price down.

Some salesmen may immediately give you a better price on their bed. They just skip all the mud slinging. This is good. This was the whole point of mentioning the other bed. Write down the price they offer you in your notebook.

If they do offer you a better price, and you agree with them that it's a better price, they'll think they have you. But I wouldn't advise agreeing to buy just yet. Keep reading. You have a few more cards to play.