Real World Negotiation

Real World Negotiation
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The contemporary world experiences negotiation processes continuously. These negotiations happen because the involved parties aim at arriving at a friendly and fair deal. I have engaged in various negotiation processes this semester, but the notable one was when I broke my laptop and had to fix or replace it. The coronavirus pandemic discouraged social gathering and encouraged online transactions, including online learning. I broke my laptop on a Friday after the afternoon lesson, and I had to fix the problem by Monday because I use it for learning. The problem was that I had limited money at the time. The damaged laptop was two months old, and I could not ask my father for money to replace the broken laptop because he is a strict father. He would not lend me any money as a punishment for being careless. The only option to fix the problem by Monday was to visit a local laptop dealer and negotiate the best deal between repairing the damaged laptop or buying a new one. This piece reflects my experience negotiating with the laptop dealer, starting with how I planned and prepared for the negotiation process.
I had a short time to prepare for the negotiation process. My target was to buy an Apple laptop to replace the damaged one, an Apple brand bought by my father as a gift for my good academic progress. I knew that he would be disappointed to see me with a different laptop, meaning I had to get a similar brand. The average price for the computer was $1999, and I only had $1800 that I was willing to spend on the laptop. I began by asking my friends to suggest a friendly laptop dealer. A friend recommended a laptops’ dealer whom I called and enquired for prices of a new one and repairing a damaged one. I used the estimates from the dealer to prepare a payoff table by considering the alternatives. I had three primary alternatives; to buy a new laptop, repair the damaged one, or stay without a laptop by not purchasing a new one or replacing the broken one. Both had equal weights because I had to consider the prices for each of the alternatives.
A new laptop would cost me around $1999 for the brand I was determined to own. This price was higher than I would afford to spend since I planned to pay $1800. I also learned that it would cost me at least $700 to repair the damaged laptop. This price was higher than what I learned in my business marketing class that I should not spend more than 25% of the buying price to repair the same product. The damage was also severe, meaning repairing it would not guarantee that it would last longer. Unfortunately, the negotiation process did not succeed, and I had to repair the damaged laptop. I hope that it does not get damaged easily again after the repair. Below is the payoff table I prepared for the negotiation process.
Alternatives

Worst case

Likely case

Best case

Buying a new laptop

$1999

$1900

$1800

Repairing the damaged laptop

$1000

$700

$500

Staying without a laptop

N/A

N/A

N/A

I did not have the luxury to stay without a laptop because it is essential for ...