Saying no to a pushy or persuasive salesperson can be hard. Here are a few tips on how to take control of a situation when you are being given the hard sell:

• Ask for time to think about the offer. If they claim the offer is only for today, alarm bells should ring (creating a sense of ‘scarcity’ is a well known technique to try and make you buy).
• Ask for written information to confirm the terms of the offer.  This will also help you shop around if you want to compare prices and terms.
• Tell the salesperson you want to independently check that the business and the offer is legitimate. This is good practice and it’s important to be vigilant against scams.
• Make an informed decision by getting all the details before you sign, rather than signing and reading it later.
  • Don’t rely just on what the salesperson tells you – read the documents to make sure you haven’t missed any of the important aspects of the contract.
  • Check if there is a cooling-off period.
  • Avoid the hard sell in the first place by getting a Do Not Knock sticker and getting on  the Do Not Call register.

The MoneySmart website publishes an excellent page on tips on avoiding high-pressure sales tactics and the above tips are based on that page.