k374

My bargaining skills may need some work but they are getting better. I am in Turkey right now and bought a silkscreen mosaic fabric thing...it's a replica of a picture of Christ in the Kariye musuem...really great one! Asking price was 40 lira ($29), I offered 30 lira ($21) and the deal was made. He tried to say let's meet halfway at 35 lira but I stood firm at 30 and then he said fine...

I figure 20 lira was more like the right price for this item now that I think about it...perhaps 25? I should've offered 20 but didn't want to sound insulting...is it okay to usually offer 50% of the asking price? Even lower?

How do you do your bargaining?

cundall

Offer what you think its worth

I start at around 35-40% if i am in a tourist market, less in a local area.

Palal

If you sound insulting, it's ok. That's the whole point. You'll never see the seller again, even though he makes you think like you will . When I named a ridiculously low price, sellers would tell me that that's too low and say something like that's insulting, so I would walk off and they'd run after me offering a lower price than they originally promised.

EmailKid

Well, judging by your experience, you need more work

And you still overpayed. In a place like Turkey, I'd start at half price, often lower.

My strategy is to say that I'd love to buy (insert object of desire here), but I'm a poor student/traveler/broke, and all I can afford is (insert half price or less here). Works even better if you know the going price, and / or what you are willing to pay.

And no, I'm no expert in bargaining

And a word to the wise - I have insulted sellers before (not intentionally) to the point where they won't accept even the ridiculously high asking price.

Good luck, and remember they get a lot more practice at bargaining than you do.

And one other thing, in some countries it's good to be the first buyer of the day, as some sellers believe if they can make the first sale of the day it will bring them good luck that day.

EmailKid

Skink

I saw the following tip by Annie Scott on Gadling last week:

"1. Pick your item and lowball it, haggling it down. (Let's say you get it down to 20 for example.)
2. Pretend you're also interested in something of similar value.
3. Ask for a deal on purchasing both items. (Let's say you get two for 30 instead of 40.)
4. Get rid of the second item.
5. Demand the lower price for your first item. (You already know they can let go of it for 15.)
6. Don't budge, and walk away if they don't give it to you. "

Middle_Seat

Never shop with your friend, spouse or child if they are inclined to say out loud, "Oh, I love it!"

When that happens, all your bargaining leverage just evaporated.

And as an anti-bargaining thought, if you are in a poor nation and see a group of old ladies all selling similar handmade items, it's perhaps best to select the oldest (perhaps the poorest) one and pay her close to asking price for the item. Two or five or ten bucks means a whole lot more to her than it does to you.

anniekuang

to be frank, i am not good at all for bargaining. And i need some pretty decent training.

peachy3

Bargained a lot in China and in Bali, Indonesia.

In China, in the street shops, start your bargaining at 10-20%. In bali, start at 20%. Don't budge. Exchange some words. Start leaving. If they come back to you, buy it, you are now obligated to. If they don't, too bad, you'll find someone else =) They are all selling the same items anyway!

cundall

Just bought something a few days ago in Bangkok and it started at 3,000 but in the end i paid 1,250 but i still think i paid too much.

You can tell if you paid a lot if they quickly accept your offer.

Either way, you bought it at the price you agreed - you must want it at that price :P

anniekuang

i bought an electric showpiece in KL which was started at 250 MYRs and i got it at 170 MYRs. The shopkeeper agreed only after 2 rounds and I got feeling that the thing was much cheaper.

thebug622

If you fall in love with the item you will pay too much,but hey you love it so what difference if you paid 2 or 3 times what you may have got it for with hard bargaining?The items I think about later are the ones I liked and didn't get my price so I didn't purchase them.One thing I always do is keep my ears opened to see were other folks are getting with their bargaining,I then size those folks up as wimps or sharp bargainers and that determines my opening offer.I had a few beers with a beach vendor on Lombok who sold watches he told me he would get lets say 50 watches from his vendor for lets say $50,he bargained harder with the tourists until he got that $50 back after that he was much more likely to take less.Many times selling for below his per unit cost

potfish

I don't agree with this. After step 1 you have a moral obligation to buy the item at 20.

anniekuang

it seems that they are so expert in this thing, they catch the glaze in your eyes when you just love some item.

producerkoof

Here's how I do it. If I see something I like, I offer below 50% of the asking price. I then take out the money I want to spend on the item. I tell the shop owner if I get to the door before he takes my money, the deal is off and I walk out. I then turn around and start heading for teh door. Never once have I walked out of a store without my purchase! Works great, no unnecessary hassling.

Jay71

I suck at bargaining and leave most of this to my wife.
My preferred strategies are just to research price (which can't always be done) and "volume discounts". ("Uhm, will you sell me t-shirts for $2 each if I get 10 of them? ). We occasionally try to eavesdrop a bit to other negotiation going on in the shop to get a idea what bargains are to be had.

But as others have said, one has to set a value and be able to walk away. Again, not so easy for more unique items. For "common" items, there's likely another shop down the street selling the same thing or similar. In China (not necessarily Hong Kong), we had people run after us as we left their stand and walked down the street to check out other shops (we were actually low on time and had to be quick on our decisions whether or not to buy so, this wasn't an intentional "technique" at the time per se ).

One can always practice on stuff you really don't care about. There's always guys selling crap at the Trocadéro viewpoint of the Eiffel Tower. It's just more crap to lug home but my wife likes to set 2 or 3 Euro for a souvenir and then just say that's how much she wants to pay period. After a few mins she'll quit so we can just enjoy the tower and they'll usually take the offer.

Some places are pretty tough bargaining too with vendors holding firm on prices with agreements with vendors in the same area to not undercut each other.