Whether swapping baseball cards or buying a baseball team, effective bargaining skills are a requirement. The key to understanding how to bargain is in mastering the psychology behind the process. Here are a few suggestions.

 • Separate the person from the problem.

When bargaining, try not to let personal relationships, pride, emotion or other irrelevant factors cloud your bargaining decisions. Any negotiation should be efficient and business-like, and should not damage the relationship between the bargaining parties.

 • Think in terms of costs and benefits.

Always remember that bargaining is a business venture and try to remain focused on the costs and benefits of any decision. This approach keeps you from taking positions you must defend in order to "save face."

 • Avoid establishing a bottom line.

Remain open and objective throughout the bargaining process. If you establish a bottom line going in and that bottom line is challenged, you must then defend your initial position.

 • Set precise goals.

Before you bargain, know what you want to accomplish.

 • Negotiate freely and creatively.

You don't need to worry about "playing by the rules," and you don't need to resort to dirty tricks. Instead, be open to creative or unusual solutions.

 • Yield to principle, not pressure.

Above all else, use reason and be open to reason. Try to reach a decision based on standards, not trust or will.

 • Always keep in mind that bargaining is a business venture.