Comments on: Haggling: a fierce battle or a delicate dance?

By: sammie

sammie — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:54:19 +0000

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.

By: Andy Jarosz

Andy Jarosz — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:43:08 +0000

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!

By: Jeannette

Jeannette — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:55:40 +0000

Haggling while traveling gives me the best travel stories.

By: Anil

Anil — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:52:35 +0000

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.

By: Keith

Keith — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 02:10:13 +0000

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!

By: Melanie Haiken

Melanie Haiken — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:16:21 +0000

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.

By: Andy Jarosz

Andy Jarosz — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:05:03 +0000

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.

By: Marcal

Marcal — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:24:33 +0000

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.

By: heather -the kiwitravelwriter

heather -the kiwitravelwriter — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:50:50 +0000

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.