When purchasing appliances, furniture or cars, etc I will always ask "is that the best you can do today?"  I have always received a further discount.  I do not hagggle on small ticket items ever.   Rarely am I asked if I will lower my commission but if it happens, I say I respect their right to ask but the answer is always no.

Compelled - no.  Do I - depends.  I do at the jade market in Hong Kong!

It depends upon the situation and I like Susan's answer

I negotiate on big ticket items.  Cars, house being painted, landscaping entire yard etc. I do not negotiate a new DVD player at walmart, but I know people who do.

I always try to at Trader Joes, simply because the card swipe machine says: "Your total is $38.03  Is this OK?" 

But seriously, yes I always ask when I have work done on the house, car, or any other service or major purchase.  I find that often if you pay cash, you can save money since they don't have to pay the bank a processing fee for a credit card transaction.

We all try to get the best deal possible.  The most important thing to know up front is the actual value.  Sometimes paying full price is a steal.

I'm always seeking incentives, promotions, and discounts, but I'm OK with someone saying 'no', too.  I don't think it's an insult.  I also manage a social group, so seeking group discounts and promotions isn't just smart, it's necessary.

I think for certain things it is expected and I do ask for a lower price, free trial or something. Other times I just pay what is asked if I know it has the value. 

The key is to know what a service or product is worth. I make an offer on everything but not so low to insult but low enough i get a deal. 

I just hired several contractors to finish my kitchen, and rather than asking for a lower price, I got bids from a few to be competitive.

Mike Rock when we ask for a price, it's never to insult a seller.

Fortunately, for homes listed in MLS, we know the price.

For other items, many of them may be advertised - so we know about it.

And for the rest for which we don't know, we have certain number in our mind that we want that work to be done - or item to be bought! If it is different, we debate with ourselves if it is worth spending that kind of money or not.

And negotiations - yep, that's  the skill we all have, as real estate professionals. (some of them are experts and some are not.) It's very much a part of us - you may have seen child negotiating that little toy from the store...

There's no one formula. Each property I sell is unique and has a different organic desirability factor....I price according to comps, but also the market trends, seasons, and condition of the property.

Over a thousand dollars I negotiate.

Under a thousand depends on the number of dependents in the tree.

A third factor involves if the business person EXPECTS a bit of haggling. It is important I establish the framework of respect.

We generally accept the asked for price as the actual price when we deal with contractors for our home. If they wanted the business, they would have priced competitively.