Night market: Luang Prabang, Laos
We see an item in the market that really grabs our interest. It has no price and so we ask the vendor how much it costs. All the while he is sizing us up. He looks at how we are dressed, what camera we are carrying, and very importantly where we come from. He wants to sell his items for the best profit, and if he thinks we will pay a good price he will try and charge us accordingly.
This is an all to familiar scenario for all who have ventured outside of the western world (and even in the west we come across haggling in so many places). We stand in that market and a number of thoughts might cross our mind:
- I hate haggling. I’ll just pay him what he wants and move on
- Why should I try and save $10 or less? It’s nothing for me but it’s week’s wages out here. He needs it more than me
- Why should he charge me more for being a foreigner? I’m not paying a penny over what the locals pay
So what’s the correct approach?
I do believe that as tourists we are expected to haggle. Sure, a trader might throw a high price at us to start in the hope that we just stump up without complaining. Those are the magic moments in their day, the times when they make enough profit on one sale to make that day a good one. If we fall into that trap it might not hurt us to be $10 down, but it will eventually make life harder for people who want to pay a fair price.
But I think to haggle ruthlessly is a greater wrong. To get that trader to the bare bones might make us feel great about our bargaining skills, but it will make life harder for that trader who probably counts every cent in his struggle to feed his family. What is the point of haggling over a $2 purchase?
Morning market: Stung Treng, Cambodia
In Asia the common phrase that traders use in bargaining is ‘lucky for you, lucky for me’. While that line is fed to tourists at a price that’s often much luckier for the trader, it is a principle that holds well. The end price should be one where the trader is happy that they have a decent margin, while the buyer is also content that they have a fair price.
And the process of getting to that mutually acceptable point? It doesn’t need to be aggressive or over-dramatic. Smiles go a long way (on both sides) and polite offers and counter-offers will get results better than feigned offence or ridicule. It is a ritual, and one with different unspoken rules in each country. But wherever you are, if you don’t like a price, it’s always ok to walk away. If they want to sell to you and the price you wanted is reasonable, they’ll soon call you back.
Haggling can be an enjoyable part of a trip if it is approached with respect and humour. It is a good way to interact with local people, and where their English is good it can often lead to friendly conversations that extend well beyond the purchase. Just keep smiling!
good post … I often am embarrased by how other travellers behave when haggling .. to save cents!
to travel ‘green’ we should be leaving money behind in the community, buying at the local market is a way to raise peoples income and therefore their health too.
Greetings
Very nice text. IMO in some countries bargain is part of process, for example if you visit Old city in Jerusalem, be prepare to bargain every corner otherwise you should spend 3x more money.
thanks Heather and Marcal, agree with you both. Great to spend money in local markets and give money direct, and sometimes there is no getting around the ‘tourist tax’. But knowing the right price and being prepared to haggle is important to avoid paying way too much and creating rapid and dangerous inflation in prices for future visitors.
Your post is timely and important as we start the new year, because I often think it’s the small moments like this that make all the difference between having a typical touristic experience when we travel, and feeling like an outsider looking in, and a true sense of experiencing another culture. I used to hate haggling when I was younger; dreaded it, in fact. But in recent years I’ve realized that some really great conversations and connections have come out of haggling, just as they’ve come out of taxi rides, gas station fill-ups, waits and bus stations, and other moments that offer points of contact between us as visitors and people going about their everyday business just trying to make ends meet. In a future post on my blog, http://www.health-conscious-travel.com, I plan to tell an amusing story about a tense traveling moment that turned into a long-standing friendship.
I’ve yet to be in a situation where haggling is acceptable or expected. I’m kinda looking forward to it after reading your tips. Thanks Andy!
I grew up with bargaining in Turkey and I think many people miss the point. It’s not strictly about the price but building relationships. Once you stop looking at bargaining as a competition the easier and more enjoyable it becomes.
Haggling while traveling gives me the best travel stories.
Get haggling Keith. As Jeannette says, it will give you some great stories to tell.
Anil, sounds like great advice. Istanbul was my first real exposure to the world of haggling. Enjoyed it very much. Even sold one guy the T-shirt I was wearing!
great post. totally agree with everything you’re saying here. i have family in cambodia and it saddens me to hear their stories of tourists haggling like crazy and trying to pay basically next to nothing for items.
I remember two days in Kabul, basically spent in a small store. After a while the carpet and the lapiz were not the main topic. It was the the stories of a growing group of afghans and expats, sharing experiences of raising kids, family weekends and the universal challenge to survive. I don’t remember the price of the purchases anymore, and it didn’t matter, even that day. Meeting the people, sharing their tea and lunch, while basically purchasing was an experience I’ll tell my grandkids about – probably more than once.
A great story Mark, and a perfect example of how it should be done. Yes, the seller is always after their goal, but there is often a chance of getting to know a person and their country in such encounters that require us to look behind the hard sell. Thanks for sharing.
Great blog Mark, Definitely have to say a delicate dance is where I come down on the haggling fence. Reading body language and getting to know the culture and the language make working out that “good for you, good for me” price that much easier. When we first travelled to Asia it was such a foreign concept. But eventually buying food at the local markets became a weekly event. The market stall holders used to love seeing us and explaining to us how to cook some unknown vegetable. Yeah we had to debate the price a bit but they always were picking out the nicest looking, or freshest vegetables for us to take home. And it was a great way to learn the language. I am pretty sure I always paid a wee bit over the odds, but hey I was always warmly welcomed and every now and then there was a freebie bag of garlic or onions dropped in my package.
Thanks Sarah for sharing your experiences. I agree with you that it’s a great way to learn a language too. We were in Buenos Aires and got talking to some candle sellers (Sam makes candles) and even in very broken Spanish we discussed techniques and learned about a local stockist where we found lots of unusual products. Long live the market
I heard a man bragging in Cuba about how the hooker wanted $10, he bargained her down to $5 (took awhile but she was desperate, being this just after the fall of Soviet support and everyone was literally starving) and then asked her to make change for the $10.