Travel 101: Tricks to Understanding (and Enjoying!) the Money Side of Travel
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Intro
to Bargaining
by
Judy Wolf
This article is the third in a three-part Travel 101 series entitled "Tricks to Understanding (and Enjoying!) the Money Side of Travel."
Bargaining. This is an arena that often intimidates western travelers. The only useful comparison in our economies seems to be car shopping, and that's an experience wrought (for most people) with a certain amount of anxiety and distrust. Wipe this comparison from your mind -- it's not like that elsewhere!
At its most basic, bargaining is about two people -- seller and buyer -- coming to agreement on a price. Most of us are used to walking into a store (or browsing a web site), looking at the price tag, deciding whether we want to buy an item with little or no interaction from a sales person, taking the item up to a register for the money portion of the exchange, and leaving. We can (and often do) accomplish the whole process without speaking to a single human being.
Bargaining, on the other hand, usually involves walking into a shop, asking how much something is, being told a price that's more than the shopkeeper expects to get for it, offering a price that's lower than the shopkeeper can possibly accept, and then working it out from there.
Back home in the U.S., I'm not normally much of a shopper, but when I realized that bargaining was an excuse to create relationships with people, it quickly became one of my favorite travel activities.
In the process of bargaining, you can learn about someone's family, the ages of their children, whether they've ever traveled, how long they've had the shop... You can laugh and mime, act and joke. You can fail to come to agreement that day, but come back the next (and the next) to try to work out a deal -- and make friends along the way.
It's important to realize that there will always be some other traveler who chiseled the price of the same item down lower than you did -- and you'll inevitably run across her mere minutes after closing what you thought was a great deal.
The concept of bargaining being about relationships rather than power and manipulation helps you become more philosophical about these moments: who cares if you paid a dollar more than the next person for something when you've had such a fun interaction while reaching that price? The point as I see it is that both you and the shopkeeper should come out of the exchange happy.
A typical exchange might go as follows:
After looking around the shop, not showing particular interest in any one thing, the buyer says casually, "How much for this?" The shopkeeper answers, and the tourist says "So expensive! How about this?" (Asking about a few items not only hides your true interest for a while, it helps give you an idea of the relative value of things.)
The shopkeeper answers with inflated prices -- that's how it starts. The buyer gets a horrified look on her face and says, "That's so expensive! Can you give me a better price?"
The shopkeeper replies with a slightly reduced rate, telling the buyer that this is top quality workmanship, genuine materials, etc.
The buyer looks dubious, picks up the item, examines it. "This is beautiful, but look at this stitching -- it will come out in a week! I can get it next door for less. I will offer you [half the original asked price]."
The shopkeeper looks insulted and says, "That's less than I paid for it! You will make me go out of business! But for you, I will offer a special price," and lowers the cost.
The buyer considers this, then turns to another item. "How much for this? How much if I buy two? How much if I buy two plus this item?" (If the buyer is savvy, she's paying attention to how prices change as items are combined and starts to get an idea from there of what is fair to pay.) The buyer then offers a slightly lower price than the shopkeeper indicated, and the two whittle out an agreement from there.
Keep in mind that the dynamics of bargaining change from place to place. This includes things like how far above an acceptable price shopkeepers tend to start the discussion, the "normal" expectation for how many times to go back and forth before settling on a price, how hard to push, what language and facial expressions work best. These you'll have to learn as you go.
In India, for example, the expectation was that bargaining could be extended and hard-core. When I then arrived in Nepal, I spent a day or two insulting shopkeepers by pushing too hard for deals (first of all, they weren't used to tourists being so difficult in Thamel -- the tourist center of Kathmandu -- and second, the general style wasn't quite so pushy). I adjusted my approach and not only had more fun, but ultimately got better deals.
Again, it's about relationships -- you're not only going to be happier about spending an extra dollar with someone you enjoy, shopkeepers are going to be more willing to give you that extra dollar if they're having fun interacting with you.
The Unspoken Rules of Bargaining
- Bargaining isn't about winning and losing -- it's an excuse to create relationships with people.
- Don't say "That's so cheap!" when you hear the price -- it doesn't help your bargaining position.
- Ask if the shopkeeper can give you a better price before you start throwing out numbers. It not only gets the starting price down a little, it's also a polite way to find out if bargaining is acceptable when you're not sure about etiquette.
- Don't show too much interest in an item -- you're guaranteed to pay more for it! Play it cool, and be willing to walk away.
- Walk away. If you're not getting the price you want, shrug your shoulders and turn to leave. You'll often hear "Okay, how much?" from behind you. If you don't, you may have truly driven the price too low. You can then either go back and agree to their last price, or keep it in mind as the approximate break-even point for the next shop with the same item.
- Etiquette pointers: don't suggest a price unless you plan to buy. Once you've uttered an offer, you're obliged to pay it if it's accepted. This does not mean that you can't walk away if they're not accepting your price, however, and as mentioned above, walking away is an excellent bargaining tool.
- Enlist a friend to work the deal with you. Having someone who acts like she doesn't think the item is worth buying or is impatient to move on adds a whole new dimension to the transaction.
- Personally, I boycotted any shops where people said things like, "That's only what? A dollar to you? That's nothing!" By extending my it's-about-relationships bargaining standard to the shops I frequented, I sought out much friendlier interactions and felt less like a walking wallet in the process. (See the second article in this series for Sure Cures for Walking Wallet Syndrome)
- Have fun! Initiate bargaining, then browse some more. If it's appropriate in that culture (and you'll know because everyone will already have been asking you the same questions), ask about the person's family, whether she's married, how many children he has, where his family is from (many city shopkeepers are transplants). Keep it friendly and enjoy yourself!
Earlier articles in this series include "Quick Tips for Understanding Currency Exchange" and "Sure Cures for Walking Wallet Syndrome."
Copyright (c) 2002 Judy Wolf
About
the Author:
Judy Wolf (www.judywolf.com)
is a world traveler, freelance writer, speaker, and whitewater kayak instructor.
She's taken numerous, extended solo journeys around the world, traveling
by foot, bus, jeep, camel, truck, boat, train, plane, elephant, and bicycle
to over 30 countries on five continents. She currently lives in upstate
New York with her husband and border collie, where she's working on a
book-length travel narrative about her most recent adventures…that is,
when she's not plunging off waterfalls or entertaining the dog.
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