There are some things we Americans just don’t like to do.

And haggling, that practice so common in other countries, is one of them. Aside from surveying garage sales and buying postcards on a tropical beach, asking a retailer for a bargain feels in bad taste.

But experts say there are some purchases for which you should definitely get out your negotiating chops. In addition to cars, big-ticket goods like furniture, mattresses, appliances and electronics are all reasonable items for consumers to ask for more services on or a better price.

Plus, in today’s fragile economy, retailers might be more willing than they have been traditionally to say yes.

It’s time to learn how to haggle.

“Right now, if you show interest in an item we’re more interested in making you a deal,” said Cliff Feingold, owner of Feingold Homes furniture store in Bend. “Retailers used to say come back in January for sales. Not now.”

But don’t expect retailers, as the saying goes, to sell the farm. By doing a little research in advance, a smart consumer can know what concessions might be reasonable for sellers and still walk away satisfied.

Know the business

It helps when wrapping your mind around this concept to know a bit about how retail works.

When walking into a furniture store, for instance, a field of couches and armoires fills the building. And these items are often “priced promotionally,” said Marcia Flicker, an associate professor of retailing at Fordham University in New York. That means the item will remain at sticker price for perhaps 30 days “and then will be reduced to reasonable margin.”

“The expectation is it will be sold at sale price,” Flicker said.

These couches and armoires, there to tantalize customers, also need to rotate out at least a few times every year. That triggers the classic clearance sale, which can actually be a good price discount as opposed to other sales. That’s because the motivation isn’t just to sell the item at the expected reasonable margin, it’s also to get lingering merchandise that hasn’t sold off that valuable floor space.

Thus, asking for a discount on full sticker price isn’t all that off the mark.

Indeed, a recent Consumer Reports magazine survey revealed that seven out of 10 people who tried negotiating for home appliances got better deals.

“What you’re trying to do is create your own sale,” said Phil Landers, who makes a living negotiating car sales in Chicago and runs the website www.nomorehaggling.com. “You can at least ask.”

With the Christmas season over, it makes asking all the more pertinent.

“January is one of the deadest times of the year in retail,” Flicker said. “Of course you should haggle.”

Flicker also said in this sputtering economy suppliers might be giving retailers more room on their margins in order to make sales, again making haggling possible.

Yet not all items have built-in inflated margins. Price pressure and swift-changing technology have brought margins down on electronics, said Matt Geiss, general manager of Bend’s Best Buy.

Which leads to the next lesson in haggling.

Know your wares

Dig through local fliers in the newspaper and get online before heading out to buy the new TV or dishwasher. Knowing industry and local standards places the consumer in a much better position to bargain.

“The greatest thing that ever happened to the car industry is the Internet,” said Jeff Robberson, owner of Robberson Ford in Bend and Prineville. “There’s so much information out there right now that there are no secrets.”

“It’s made it a lot more comfortable for both sides to negotiate,” he continued.

While the Internet has made life tough for national and mom-and-pop retailers alike — “The price pressure from the Internet is exorbitant,” Flicker said — it’s been a boon for consumers.

For instance, Landers said he coached his sister on how to buy a new high-definition TV. She looked up the price on amazon .com, then went to her local retailer. She explained to the sales clerk how she wanted to buy the TV there that day, but she could order it for $40 cheaper online.

She got the better price, Landers said, plus an extra she couldn’t have received from the Internet: help installing her new TV.

Another way technology is starting to play into buying decisions is through smart phone applications. Shop Savvy Barcode Scanner, for instance, is a free Apple app that allows customers to scan the barcode of an item while in the store and then find the same item and its price at other area stores and on the Internet.

Yet beware of advertising meant to lure shoppers to the store with cheap prices, since what is in bold print might not be the norm. Robberson pointed out that sometimes a low-priced item in fine print has very limited availability.

Flicker also recommends having a firm idea of the model or features desired before heading to the store. Clerks may try to entice customers with a better price on a higher-end dishwasher with more features, for example, but it may not matter to the individual that this dishwasher has more rinse cycles.

“Don’t pay for more than you need,” she said, “and go in knowing the typical pricing.”

Know how to haggle

In addition to knowing typical pricing, Flicker said, think about additional angles for negotiation when the price appears fixed.

“Think of ways that you can negotiate that’s of value to you and the store,” she said. “Look at free installation or complimentary services.”

Don’t be aggressive, but also don’t be shy.

The standard line from national retailers is they don’t negotiate. But anecdotal evidence scattered throughout newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post is that sometimes they do, from Macy’s to Lowe’s to Best Buy. All the accounts cited were from reports published in the last two years.

What Geiss said Best Buy will do for certain items is try to match prices on identical merchandise elsewhere in town. So if the same TV is cheaper across the street, a savvy move would be to ask for the same price.

Landers also has some simple tips.

He said besides being familiar with pricing elsewhere, shop at a nonpeak times. The deal you make at a store on a weekday will not be as conspicuous as it would be on a busy Saturday.

If the initial salesperson doesn’t bite, ask gently for a floor manager or someone else with more authority. The point, Landers said, isn’t to get the clerk in trouble — make that clear — but to express an eagerness to buy, and perhaps a manager would be in a better position to talk about it.

Also, be clear about the budget. It may influence the retailer’s decision. So will a phrase like “I’m willing to buy it today if” and offering cash.

Cash can be a good negotiating move in a small retail establishment, Landers said, since it costs stores a roughly 2 percent fee to run credit cards. That doesn’t matter as much to a big-box outlet, but can make a difference to a mom-and-pop place.

And at the end of the day, recognize that the retailer deserves to make some profit. Customers want to be able to shop at that store next year.

“You may as well try,” Flicker said. “They need to sell, you need to buy, everyone wins.”