Negotiations The art, science, & sport of online deals

Negotiations can seem as complex as physics, and in fact, people go to college to study the science of negotiating just as they would the laws of nature. At the same time, negotiation is like an ancient art form, some sort of Zen mental jujitsu. When neither the Zen nor the science works, though, no one wins.

Just ask any hockey fan out there. The recent lockout and cancellation of the 2004-2005 NHL season is a perfect example of poor negotiating. Both the players union and the league owners broke all of the rules when it came to brokering an agreement on player contracts. The result are hockey rinks across North America that are so quiet that you can hear a pin dropunfortunately, not a puck. In dollar terms, professional hockey is missing out on television contracts, advertising fees, and tons of ticket sales.

Of course, you wont lose billions in revenue if you fail at the latest negotiation at your favorite online classified or auction site. But you could let a treasure slip through your fingers. Success in deal making, on the other hand, could land you that rookie Bobby Orr card, signed Stanley Cup puck, or whatever other fantastic item youre bidding on.

Plus, proper negotiations and compromise can ensure that you get the item for its fair value, including a good price on shipping and taxes. This increases the profitability of the trade for both you and the seller. The deal gets closed without nasty disputes, blow-ups, or hip checks. And both of you are left to do business again in the future.

To score all of these benefits, and avoid your own mini lockout, follow these simple tips on negotiating that will net results at online classified sites. As youll see, victory isnt so much an exact science or a mystic sixth sense. Its more about simple know-how and common sense.

Warm up. Dont jump into a negotiation cold. Before you even face off with your opponent, figure out for yourself what would count as a victory. What do you exactly want out of the tradeand at what price?

Consider a truce. It may not even be worth dropping the puck at all. In other words, negotiations, like hockey games, can end in a loss for the home team, you. So weigh this risk before you start. If the item at hand is a dream buy, you may not want to endanger your purchase with a drawn-out negotiation.

Know when to pass. On the other hand, if the item is far from dreamyand youre pretty sure something better may come along lateryou could pass on negotiations. Or go for the score. Offer a lowball price. If you win, you wont be out too much, and if you lose, it wont leave a mark either. But be certain if you play this game. You could miss this opportunity without a guarantee of future prospects.

Know your enemy. Coaches and players spend hours before games watching films of their impending competition to study their tendencies. You need to take the same approach when it comes to making a deal. Try to read your opponents mind. What is his or her goals in the negotiation? Does he or she have any strengths that they can use against you? Are there any weaknesses that you can use against them?

Why Wait for Science To Prove What Ancient Societies Already Knew About Anti-Aging

Dr. Denman Harman first proposed the “Free Radical Theory of Aging” in 1954. But long before that, different cultures were already starting to use antioxidants to fight the effects of aging.

They may not have known why they worked. In fact, some cultures probably didn’t even know the foods they ate fought the war on aging. But, they ate these healthy foods everyday. And in doing so they made the effects of aging much less prominent, and may have extended their lives by several years.

Science in “modern” society is finally beginning to catch up with what these ancient cultures already knew. That the foods we eat can make a huge difference in our overall health. And, that includes anti-aging.

Its actually quite unfortunate that we have been raised to doubt this ancient wisdom. Unless we understand how something works, through years of clinical research, we don’t believe it. Even, if we can see the results with our own eyes.

You have no doubt heard stories about villages located in remote areas of the orient, where the people do not appear to age. They live to a very old age, and during that time, their skin still looks beautiful. And the residents have and exciting, vibrancy about them.

In these places, the residents age “gracefully”. This means that while they won’t live forever, no one will, they do not experience the degenerative diseases, skin problems and other issues that we consider a normal part of aging.

While we don’t know exactly what is responsible for this longevity, or how it works, there is one thing that most people agree on. It is related to the food that they eat. While in North America, Europe and other “developed” areas, we generally eat lots of fats, and very few fruits and vegetables, in many countries, the inhabitants eat plenty of healthy food.

And much of this food is very high in antioxidants.

We know now, that many of the effects of aging are related to free radicals. And we also know that antioxidants are very effective at removing free radicals.

We can also observe that populations that eat a lot of food that is high in antioxidants do not appear to have the same level of cancer and other degenerative diseases than more developed nations. We can also see that other age factors like sagging skin do not appear to affect those areas as strongly.

The research is ongoing as to how and why antioxidants have such a positive anti-aging affect. But do you really need to know why, when you can observe their effects on your own?

Increasing foods that are high in antioxidants or adding supplements to your diet is a safe anti-aging treatment. There is no reason to wait for all the research to be done, since there is nothing to lose by trying. Of course, you should always talk to your doctor before embarking on any diet change.

Science is years, decades or even centuries behind figuring out how all of the earth’s miracles work. This includes in the study of antioxidants and anti-aging. But there is no reason to wait for science to catch up. Learn what some civilizations have known for centuries, and use antioxidants to fight the effects of aging.