Remember — it’s not personal. “As soon as emotions enter into the transaction, you’re going to lose,” says Kit Yarrow, a professor of consumer psychology at Golden Gate University, in San Francisco.

Do your homework. You’ll feel confident, and “if you tell the salesman that you know it’s last year’s model, you will disarm him,” says Ken Hall, the chief Teamsters Union negotiator for 215,000 UPS drivers.

Stay calm. Starting an argument won’t help your chances.

Start simple. Practice negotiating where the stakes are low, like at a yard sale.

Follow through. If you get the offer you were looking for, take it. “Don’t keep angling for more,” says Dominick Misino, a retired hostage negotiator for the New York Police Department.