Nice piece on negotiating just about anything -- gym memberships; flat screen TV's; watches at retail stores --  on Marketplace with a little opining on the issue by yours truly.

Podcast:  Consumers Display Negotiating Nerve here.

Excerpt below:

KAI RYSSDAL: We're in what you might properly call a buyer's market. We saw it at Christmas with retailers all but giving things away just to get customers into their stores. And the worse the economy gets, the more it's true.

It doesn't apply everywhere, of course. But if you want a better deal on your cable bill or your broadband Internet, nowadays all you have to do is ask.

From Philadelphia, Joel Rose reports.

JOEL ROSE: My friend Amy Voloshin is not what you'd call an intimidating negotiator.

Amy Voloshin: I'm not really comfortable negotiating things. The only thing I've ever negotiated was my salary.

Amy says she wasn't even trying to negotiate with the sales guy at her local gym. But that two-year contract . . . it was a big sticking point.

Voloshin: I think I frowned. Then all of a sudden, it became a one-year commitment.

Amy got the shorter commitment -- and unlimited yoga -- for less than she expected.

TONY KIM: This is all upper body here . . .

Tony Kim shows me around City Fitness in Philadelphia, where he's director of sales. Kim says the gym might have lost a few dollars on Amy. But it got a happy new customer who might spread the word to her friends.

Kim: Hopefully, they'll come and see us. And see how just how honest we are, and how friendly we are. And they actually join, too.

The evidence is strictly anecdotal. But experts say consumers nationwide are taking advantage of the recession by negotiating better deals on all kinds of stuff, from flat-screen TVs to cosmetic surgery to the rent on their apartments.

VICTORIA PYNCHON: I think that if you reach the right person, you can negotiate anything in this economic climate.

Victoria Pynchon is a Los Angeles attorney and blogger who specializes in mediation. She says successful negotiators do lots of research ahead of time. And they also make sure they're talking to someone in a position to make a deal. Often that's not the first person who answers the phone. Pynchon says it helps to know the industry jargon.

Pynchon: I've found that the two words "customer retention" are a magic carpet ride to a good consumer deal. . . .

Click on above link for full story.