The biggest advantage in negotiations

I've traveled to a few countries where there are markets where you can haggle for stuff, Egypt, Morroco, India, etc.

Haggling is fun and low stakes. You can try negotiation tactics like offering an absurdly low price or try to get a bulk discount or feign outrage just to save a few bucks on a leather wallet or cheap trinket or whatever it is. The worst case is you get "ripped off" and lose tens of dollars.

But, the biggest negotiation advantage you have in these negotiations is the willingness to walk away.

If you start walking out the shop owner will grab your arm and say "okay okay I give you best price."

This is easy to do in a souk or bazaar because there are lots of other vendors selling the same thing and you probably don't care about the item all that much anyway.

It's harder to do in a 1099 negotiation because it's a lot more money and there aren't a thousand other opportunities sitting in front of you.

But if you're able to detach yourself from any single deal outcome and have enough confidence that you can find another gig, you can get a much better deal for yourself.

Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.