Last Price? What to Say and Still Keep Your Profit
You post a dress for GH₵180. Two minutes later the message comes: "Last price?" How you answer that one question decides whether you keep your profit or give it away. This guide shows you exactly what to say — with word-for-word replies you can copy into your own chats tonight.
"Last price?" is a buying signal, not an insult
Some sellers get tired the moment they see those two words. Don't. A customer who asks for last price is a customer who wants the item. Nobody negotiates for a dress they don't plan to buy.
In Ghana, negotiation is part of how we shop. It happens at Makola, it happens at Kejetia, and it happens on WhatsApp. The customer isn't disrespecting you — she's telling you the sale is close. She wants to feel she got something. Your job is to let her win something without giving away your margin.
The sellers who lose money on "last price?" are not the ones who negotiate. They're the ones who negotiate without a plan — tired, at 11pm, typing "ok 150" because saying yes was easier than one more reply.
Decide your floor before the chat starts
Here is the rule that changes everything: know your lowest price before anyone asks.
For every product you sell, write down two numbers:
- Asking price — what you post. For our dress, GH₵180.
- Floor price — the lowest you will ever accept and still make the profit you need. Say GH₵160.
Write the floor down — in a notebook, a spreadsheet, anywhere outside your head. When it lives only in your head, it moves. At 10am your floor is GH₵160. At 11pm, after a long day, your floor becomes "whatever ends this chat". That drift is where profit leaks — GH₵10 here, GH₵20 there, forty times a month.
Work the floor out from your real costs: what you paid for the item, transport, packaging, data, your time. The floor is not "a price I'd grudgingly take". It's the line below which the sale isn't worth making. Once it's written down, the negotiation stops being emotional. You're not deciding under pressure — you decided this morning.
Come down in small steps, and give a reason every time
Two mistakes kill margins on WhatsApp.
The first is dropping too far, too fast. The customer asks last price on a GH₵180 dress and the seller replies "160" — the whole room, gone in one message. And she still pushes for 150, because a fast drop tells her the prices are soft.
Come down in small steps instead: 180 → 175 → 170. Each step small enough that stopping feels natural.
The second mistake is a discount with no reason attached. A discount without a reason says "my first price was fake". A discount with a reason says "my prices are real, but I'm doing something for you":
- "GH₵170 because you're taking it today."
- "GH₵170 and I'll cover delivery within Osu."
- "GH₵175 because you bought from me last month."
She gets a win she can feel. You keep your margin. Nobody is cheated.
Eight replies you can copy tonight
Same scenario throughout: dress posted at GH₵180, your floor is GH₵160. Change the numbers to yours and keep the shape.
1. The first "last price?" — one small step, with a reason. > "For you, GH₵175 — that's because you messaged early. Original fabric, and I have your size ready now."
2. "Do last for me" — the friendly push. Answer warmly, move a little, then stop. > "I've done you one already, my sister 😊 GH₵175 is the friend price. Take it today and I'll send it out this evening."
3. "Reduce small" — this one is asking for a gesture, not a number. Give the smallest real one. > "I'll take off the GH₵5 and make it GH₵170 flat. That's me finishing it for you — no more room on this piece."
4. She counters with GH₵150 — hold the line without scolding. > "150 I can't do on this one — that's below what I paid plus my cost. GH₵170 is my best, and it can go out today."
5. "My budget is GH₵140" — don't argue with a budget. Move her to something the budget fits. > "I hear you. This one can't reach 140. But I have a similar cut at GH₵145 — let me send you the photo and you tell me."
Never fight a stated budget. She's told you the truth about her money, and the sale is in a different item.
6. "Add small thing for me" — trade instead of subtracting. > "The dress I can't come down again. But take the headwrap with it and I'll do both for GH₵200 instead of 215."
A throw-in feels generous and usually costs you less than a cash discount.
7. "I'll pay tomorrow, hold it for me" — say yes to the hold, tie it to a deposit and a deadline. > "I can hold it till tomorrow 6pm with GH₵50 MoMo now, and the balance on delivery. Without the deposit I can't promise your size will still be here — this one is moving."
Free holds are where stock disappears for three days and comes back unsold. A deposit turns a maybe into an order.
8. She keeps pressing, or goes quiet — repeat calmly, then leave the door open. > "GH₵170 is where I can go. I want you to buy from me again, so I won't sell at a loss and then disappear. The price stands till tomorrow evening — message me when you're ready."
Repetition isn't rudeness. Calm, identical answers are how a customer learns the price is real.
The concession that costs you least depends on where she is
Delivery is the cheapest thing you can give away, and how much it's worth changes with the address.
A customer in Osu or East Legon asking for GH₵10 off is asking for something you can hand her as free delivery instead — a short rider trip inside Accra, and she feels she won. The same offer to a customer in Kumasi or Takoradi is worth far more to her, so it buys you far more room on the price. And a Tema customer who's already paying GH₵40 to get the parcel across town will often take "I'll cover the delivery" over "GH₵15 off the dress", even when the cedis are similar.
So before you cut the price, look at where the parcel is going. Set your delivery zones once, know what each one costs you, and lead with the zone she's in. "GH₵175 and delivery to Tema is on me" holds a price that "GH₵160" would have surrendered.
When to walk away, and why customers come back
If a customer will only buy below your floor, let the sale go. Politely, warmly — but let it go. A sale below your floor isn't a sale; it's you paying someone to take your stock.
Here's what surprises new sellers: customers respect a firm price more than a soft one. The buyer who walked away at GH₵150 often returns two days later at GH₵170, because she checked around and your price was fair — and because you were pleasant when you said no. And the ones who don't return? They were never your customers. They were your loss, avoided.
Every firm, friendly "no" also trains your regulars. Slowly, your shop becomes known as a place where prices are honest and the negotiation is fair — which means shorter chats and better margins on every future sale. If you're still setting up the WhatsApp shop itself — catalogue, greeting, payment flow — start with our guide to selling on WhatsApp in Ghana.
What if you're asleep when they ask?
Everything above works when you're awake. But "last price?" doesn't keep office hours. It comes at 11pm, during church, while you're at the market sourcing stock. By the time you reply with your careful script, she's bought elsewhere.
This is the exact problem Vendwa was built for. You set your floor price once, per product, in writing — and Vendwa negotiates every chat for you, day and night. It comes down in small steps, attaches a reason to every discount, and holds your floor like a wall: however hard the customer pushes, it cannot agree to a pesewa below the number you set. The floor is enforced by the system itself, not by the AI's mood. See how Vendwa's negotiation and floor prices work.
Your 2am customers get the same polite, firm negotiation your 2pm customers get.
Common questions
What should I reply when a customer asks "last price" on WhatsApp? Come down one small step and attach a reason: "GH₵175 because you're taking it today." Never jump straight to your lowest number — a fast drop invites more pressure.
How do I set a floor price? Add up what the item cost you — stock, transport, packaging, your time — then add the minimum profit that makes the sale worth it. Write the number down per product. Never negotiate below it.
What do I say when a customer tells me her budget? Don't argue with the budget. Offer an item that fits it: "This one can't reach GH₵140, but I have a similar cut at GH₵145 — let me send the photo." You keep the customer and your price.
Is it rude to refuse a customer's price? No, if you do it warmly. "150 I can't do, but 170 is my best and it's ready today" refuses the number, not the person. Firm and friendly beats soft and resentful.
Can an AI negotiate for my shop? Yes. Vendwa negotiates on your WhatsApp and Instagram using floor prices you set. It concedes in small steps with reasons, and the system blocks any deal below your floor — even at 2am.
Put a negotiator on your WhatsApp tonight — L0.