had 12500gold on hand. item had a listed price of 13000. had to run to the
bank to withdraw 500 just to see the shopkeeper sell it to me for 9000. if
thats how its supposed to be, ignore this.

yes that how it suppose to be cause the skill is checked after you try to
purchase the item cause other wise you could keep trying to bargain for the
item to your skill went off with less money then the item costs

In theory, theory and practice are the same, but in practice, theyre not.