Great post! This is so true. Learned from the womb, through osmosis: Don't even *attempt* to haggle on a price. I think the unspoken understanding (at least in my culture/according to my upbringing - I am a WASP Canadian) is that it is insulting and disrespectful to the person selling the good or service, is undignified, or sends the (supposedly shameful) message, "I can't afford to pay a fair price for xyz". Operating under the premise that you want to be respectful of the person selling the product or service is fine....except now, unfair and incredibly inflated costs for poor quality products is the norm, so it seems very unbalanced.
I stopped for a moment to think of it honestly - would I be offended it someone tried to haggle with me about the cost of my services? Trading items or services for my services I am fine with, and have done. I have also quietly offered people I knew were having a difficult time financially a much lower rate. But people haggling for a lower price "just because"? That would not go over well with me. I work hard doing what I do, and charge what my time and effort is worth. I would much prefer to trade for fair value. :-)