BP- Mod1 - Talking about Prices

Transcript

1. Talking about prices Business Essentials
2. Talking about prices Business is all about money. The whole purpose of a company is to earn more money than it spends so that it can produce a profit. So it’s not surprising that we spend a lot of time talking about how much things cost. Whether you’re buying materials or reviewing a budget, you may find yourself frequently asking about prices or costs. The most common way to do this is with the expression “how much.” So you might say “how much does it cost?” or “how much are you asking?” In this case, the “asking” price is the seller’s starting price.
3. Talking about prices Business is all about money. The whole purpose of a company is to earn more money than it spends so that it can produce a profit. So it’s not surprising that we spend a lot of time talking about how much things cost. Whether you’re buying materials or reviewing a budget, you may find yourself frequently asking about prices or costs. The most common way to do this is with the expression “how much.” So you might say “how much does it cost?” or “how much are you asking?” In this case, the “asking” price is the seller’s starting price. Of course, you might ask very directly about price, with a question like “could you tell me the price” or “what will it cost” for something. • How much are you asking for these printers? • Could you tell me the price on this machine? • What will it cost for three additional phone lines? • So how much does it cost us to make each unit?
4. Talking about prices Business is all about money. The whole purpose of a company is to earn more money than it spends so that it can produce a profit. So it’s not surprising that we spend a lot of time talking about how much things cost. Whether you’re buying materials or reviewing a budget, you may find yourself frequently asking about prices or costs. The most common way to do this is with the expression “how much.” So you might say “how much does it cost?” or “how much are you asking?” In this case, the “asking” price is the seller’s starting price. Of course, you might ask very directly about price, with a question like “could you tell me the price” or “what will it cost” for something. • How much are you asking for these printers? • Could you tell me the price on this machine? • What will it cost for three additional phone lines? • So how much does it cost us to make each unit? One interesting thing about the word “cost:” we can say the machine costs $5,000. And we can say it cost us $500 to fix the machine. So, a thing can “cost” money and it can also “cost” you money. You might say that something is “too expensive,” or that the price is “high.” But you might also say you can’t “afford” something. • I’m sorry, but that’s too expensive. • That seems really high compared to other companies. • I don’t think we can afford that. • I’m afraid that’s out of our price range.
5. Talking about prices How about some practice with suggesting lower prices and costs? • Let’s see if we can reduce these costs by 20% • Would you take $500 per unit instead? • Is there any way we could bring down the price? • How about knocking $40 off that price?
6. Talking about prices How about some practice with suggesting lower prices and costs? • Let’s see if we can reduce these costs by 20% • Would you take $500 per unit instead? • Is there any way we could bring down the price? • How about knocking $40 off that price? One informal expression you heard was “to knock money off” a price. For example, if someone asks for $100, and you want to pay $80, you can say “could you knock $20 off?” Matt: How much are you asking for this unit? Woman: That one is going for $3,500. Matt: Hmm, that’s out of our price range. Would you take $3,000? Woman: I’ll have to talk to my manager about that.