THE PHP 2.50 LESSON

Once upon a time, a teenage girl went ukay-ukay shopping in Baguio.

She spotted a skirt she liked and asked the saleslady, “Magkano ito?”

“Php5, ma’am.”

Without missing a beat, the girl replied, “Php2.50 na lang.”

End of story.

Now—what does a Php2.50 discount have to do with real estate?

See, when it comes to buying, some people—most notably Filipino-Chinese buyers—don’t negotiate primarily to save money. They negotiate for the win. The pleasure isn’t in the amount saved, but in the feeling of having beaten the price.

This story happened in the early 2000s. Even then, Php2.50 was laughably small. The same girl would’ve handed Php10 to a beggar without thinking twice. So clearly, this wasn’t about money. It was about principle. About the satisfaction.

You see this cultural trait everywhere. The TV series, Fresh Off the Boat, plays with this idea repeatedly—where bargain-hunting itself becomes a flex. The family isn’t impressed by what was bought, but by how much was knocked off the price. The cheaper the deal, the bigger the win.

Concept in Practice

Early in my brokerage career, I had a buyer ask me to go back to the seller and request a price reduction.

“Even just Php100.”

Php100. Seriously.

On a multi-million-peso property.

The buyer wasn’t trying to improve their cash flow or protect their ROI. They simply couldn’t accept paying exactly the asking price. Paying list price felt like losing.

Again—less about money, more about psychology.

Takeaway

When I was a young broker, I used to think the smartest move was to price a property right at the seller’s bottom line. Lower price, faster sale. Logical, right?

Experience taught me otherwise.

Buyers don’t just want a fair price. They want the satisfaction of a discount. They want to feel like they negotiated well—even if the difference is symbolic.

So today, I always leave room for negotiation. Deals close when the buyer feels like they won.