Give me a deal - or there's no deal

Have you recently been into a shop and thought, "I'm not paying that - I'm going to haggle the price down"?

If so, you're not alone. A new survey from CreditExpert shows that more than half of us are now more prepared to drive a bargain to get the goods we need - at the prices we can afford - than we were a year ago.

The study from Experian's online credit monitoring and identity fraud protection service found that 57% of British adults feel this way and nearly half (47 per cent) were ready to tell retailers, "Give me a deal - or there's no deal."

This new determination appears to be working. More than a third (38%) reported successfully negotiating a lower price for a new car and 60% said they were comfortable bargaining over the price of entertainment goods, such as a television, stereo or dvd player.

But even though many people are driving down prices they pay, they need to make sure that when they are taking out credit, they are also in the best position to drive the deal.

A good starting point is to check your credit report - which is a key part of your financial CV.

It gives details of your credit accounts, such as cards, loans and mortgage, along with your repayment history.

Lenders see it when you apply for credit and it shows you what you owe and how well you're coping with your borrowing.

See your free Experian credit report and find out how you're doing.

A new survey from CreditExpert shows that more than half of us are now more prepared to drive a bargain to get the goods we need - at the prices we can afford - than we were a year ago

Alexandra Sheppard

When you understand and manage your credit history, you increase your financial confidence - and the survey of more than 1,000 British adults found that 77% believe that confidence is key to getting a better deal.

Many of us think we have that confidence, with 57% saying they consider themselves good at bagging a bargain.

There are strong regional variations. In Eastern England, 66% claim great negotiating skills and 67% are more prepared than a year ago to haggle.

In the North-East, it's a different story. While 87% agree it's a matter of confidence, 38% say they are bad at haggling - two-and-a-half times the national average of 15%.

There's also a gender gap. The average man saved an average of £343 on a single big-ticket item over the last year, compared to £217 for the average woman.

Age also brings experience. People aged 45 to 54 are the most successful at getting money off, with an average of £362.83 on a single transaction, while 18 to 24-year-olds managed just £171, even though 63% of this group believe they are good at haggling.

• See your Experian credit report now - it's free with a 30-day trial of CreditExpert, the UK's leading online credit monitoring and identity fraud protection service.