What does “mach mal” mean when haggling in German?

Mach mal [Zahl] is the phrase German flea-market haggling runs on. Literally “do [a number],” it’s shorthand for naming your counter-price: mach mal vierzig means “make it forty” or “let’s say forty.” You’ll hear it from either side of a deal — the buyer proposing a lower number, or the seller agreeing to one — whenever a price is still open for negotiation.

In the clip, a buyer wants several board games at once and works the seller down step by step, counting up in fives before landing on vierzig — “make it forty” for the whole lot, instead of paying per piece. The same mach mal pattern works anywhere a number’s on the table: splitting a bill, or agreeing a time — mach mal um drei, “let’s say three o’clock.”