The key ideas

Everything Is Negotiable

Gavin Kennedy, 1982

Why do we silently accept the first price we're quoted and regret it later — when all it took was asking, “Could we do this another way?” Gavin Kennedy shows that prices and terms aren't a verdict, just someone's opening position, and there's almost always room to negotiate. Simple, proven techniques for negotiating with more confidence — from buying a sofa to talking about your salary.

Who it is for

Anyone who wants to negotiate with confidence and stop giving things away for nothing

In a negotiation, the one who pays is not the one who's right — it's the one who concedes first, without even being asked.

What the book is about

This book is built around a simple, slightly unsettling idea: almost everything in life can be negotiated, and we've simply gotten used to not doing it. The price tag in a shop window, the terms in a contract, your salary, who takes out the trash at home — all of it feels like a given, but it's really just someone's opening offer, and any offer can be discussed. Kennedy shows that negotiation isn't a skill reserved for hard-nosed dealmakers — it's an ordinary skill anyone can learn once they understand a few rules and stop being afraid of the word “no.”

Gavin Kennedy is a Scottish professor and practitioner who spent decades teaching negotiation to managers, salespeople, and ordinary people. His approach is calm and down-to-earth: no manipulation, no pressure — just clear-headed calculation and self-respect. In what follows, we'll go through the book's key ideas one by one, explain why each one works, and use invented but recognizable examples to show how to apply them to shopping, work, and daily life.

Idea 1. Almost everything can be discussed

The book's central premise: the price and terms you're given aren't a verdict — they're a starting point for a conversation. People are used to treating a price tag as final, but behind it there's almost always a person with room to maneuver. This holds true not just in shops, but at the bank, when renting, with service providers, at work. Why: whoever set the terms usually built in some slack and is quite willing to move it if you simply, calmly ask. What to do: get in the habit of asking a simple question — “is there any other way to do this?” — in places where you used to silently agree.

Marina was buying a sofa for $600 and was about to pay when she suddenly asked the salesperson: “If I take it today and pay right now — what can you offer?” The salesperson thought for a second and knocked off $40, throwing in free delivery too. Marina didn't push or scheme — she just asked the question other buyers stay quiet about.

Before you agree, ask — almost any term can be moved.

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About the author

Gavin Kennedy is a British negotiation expert, teacher, and author of practical books for business people.

All books by this author: Gavin Kennedy

Terms from the book

  • Bluff
  • Concession: What you give up in a negotiation: lowering the price, changing a deadline, adding a term that favors the other side.
  • Fallback option: Your best plan if the deal falls through; it's what actually tells you whether this deal is even worth taking.
  • Walk-away point: The limit beyond which the deal no longer works for you; past it, you simply stand up and leave.

All terms

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