bargain

A bargain is something that doesn’t cost very much money to buy. This is different from the word "cheap. "If something is a bargain, the quality of the thing purchased must be good. It’s not a bargain to buy something that breaks or is unusable.

• Car dealers often have good bargains on cars at the end of the year.
• Lenny found a bargain online on a 2008 Toyota Highlander.
• Black Friday bargains were advertised in yesterday’s newspapers.
• Sue shops for bargains at discount retail stores.
• Ninety-nine cents for a pound of bananas is no bargain.
• What kinds of bargains are there in today’s newspaper?

You can also use the word "bargain" as an adjective:

• Most clothing stores have some sort of bargain area where clothes are sold at a discount.
• Clara enjoys bargain shopping at her local mall.
• Rock-bottom bargain prices on Christmas merchandise won’t be available until after Christmas.

When "bargain" is used as a verb, it means to negotiate.

• Tyler never bargains on anything. He doesn’t like negotiating on price.
• The owner of that antique store will bargain with you if you offer a reasonable price.

They’re bargaining over the price.

Note: Bargaining on price is very common in many countries around the world. In the United States, it isn’t; however, you can bargain on things that are very expensive, such as a house or a car, or on things that are sold used by a private party.

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This page was first published on November 24, 2012. It was updated on June 3, 2014.