Originally Posted by
beergut
Look at it this way, if you hadn't bought the item then it could have been sitting around all day and they'd have taken an even lower offer for it, or they may even have had to carry it home again.
Just the fact that they went home with cash on the hip probably made them happier then your conscience allows you to believe.
No doubt the girl was happy to get the money. I'm sure it helped the family survive for a bit and I probably still paid more than someone else would have. That being said, there was just no reason for me to haggle the price down. It was reasonable value at the original asking price and the difference in price was "in the noise" for me but highly significant for her.
There's a very important difference in buying something from a "professional merchant" and buying something from someone trying to scrape up a few bucks to survive. This was a poor Thai girl selling her family's Buddha on a sidewalk along with some random household goods; not a merchant selling something out of a shop. Huge difference.
As I later learned, Thai people do not sell Buddha's frivolously, even to the point of calling it a "lease" rather than a sale. This was an act of desperation and I fault myself for being unaware of the cultural implications.
As a practical matter, in more serious situations being "culturally unaware" can get you killed!
Ain't that the truth, but just because we have regrets it doesn't mean we've done wrong
True. So long as we remember the lesson learned and, for good or ill, this is one epiphany that won't wear off!