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Haggling Your Way to Big Discounts

Nothing in life is free. But who say's things can't be a little cheaper?

"Early Show" Consumer Correspondent Susan Koeppen shared how she put her haggling skills to work to score some deep discounts -- just by asking.

Koeppen says to haggle effectively all you need is guts.

"(Haggle) with authority," she said. "You need to know and feel that you deserve the discount. Haggling isn't the norm in our society, so you need to not be worried about getting a negative response."

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When Koeppen went shopping she got these discounts:

Columbia suitcase:
Koeppen noticed the zipper in the front wasn't quite perfect. They immediately gave me a 10 percent discount.

Original Price: $60
Discount: 10 percent
Our Price: $54

Shoes:
Koeppen said haggling over the price of clothes and shoes is something you should try -- especially if there is a flaw of any kind.

Original price: $70
Discount: 50 percent plus 10 percent extra
Our Price: $31.50

Water Bottles
Koeppen haggled for these online. She explained the bottles didn't come with free shipping or any promotional code. She said, "I did a Web chat with a customer service person and asked for a one-time promo code to save money. She gave it to me."

Original Price: $50
Discount: 10 percent
Our Price: $45

But Koeppen did strike out with some discounts - like the dress she was wearing on the broadcast. Koeppen said she saw the dress put on the rack and then asked a salesperson for a discount.

"You have no shame," "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez said.

The salesperson, Koeppen said, looked at her "like she had five heads," and asked, "For what?"

Koeppen said she just wanted to find out if she could get a discount.

Koeppen added, "She wasn't smiling, she wasn't into it, so she didn't give me a discount."

However, Rodriguez said, the point is discounts are out there.

Koeppen agreed, saying, "You gotta ask."

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