Value for money is important in all aspects of life but especially in the business world. As a result, in this installment of our Business Idioms series we have prepared something for all of you bargain hunters out there: a whole set of idioms about bargaining.
bang for the buck – value for the money spent.
- We were able to get a lot of bang for our buck when we advertised online; we spent very little but got a lot of responses!
Note: buck is a word used for a dollar in the United States of America originating from the practice of trading deer (buck) skins for other products or services in the 1700’s.
a steal – a bargain or good deal
- The new computers weren’t exactly a steal at this price, but they were still good value.
cheap at twice the price – very inexpensive, good value for money.
- We paid only $2000 to have the whole security system installed! It would have been cheap at twice the price.
Note: An even stronger way to say the same thing would be to say “a steal at twice the price.”
for a song – cheaply, for next to nothing
- I picked up this car for a song because of some aesthetic damage.
Note: when we use this idiom it is as if something free (the singing of a song) had been accepted as payment.
cut-rate – a price lower than usual
- We went to a cut-rate furniture store to buy all of the furnishings for our new office.
Note: Price can be exchanged for rate in this idiom without affecting the meaning (e.g., we bought all of our new furnishings at a cut-price).
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