Worked for me few times. ^

Don't go in with a warlike mentality. "This thing--how much? No that's too much" doesn't work nearly as well as:

Walk around a bit, talk to the guy, ask him about his family, joke around with him, ohh by the way this looks pretty what is it?, chat for a while longer and take a look at the picture of his grandson in his wallet, can you give me a good price?, show him a picture of your grandson, ohh wow if I pay that I won't have any money left over for lunch!, make a joke about that idiot tourist nearby making a mess of things, how about this I'll pay you $x.

Rinse, wash, repeat. If you know any terms of endearment in the local language, use them ("chabibi, that just won't do"). If it's a touchy-feely culture, touch the guy on the arm a few times. Be willing to walk away as mentioned above.

Once you settle on a price give the guy a firm handshake and a smile. Not only will you get a better price (because you're showing some sensitivity to the guy, you're haggling in the way that locals in many cultures haggle, and he'll like you a lot more than the average tourist that lumbers by), but you'll also have a lot more fun.

It's supposed to be a dance, not a battle.

Exactly.

That said, if you start with a counter of half the original ask, and work your way up from there to "meet in the middle", you probably don't belong on the dance floor. Your seller will be very happy.

I'm Western, and it's really easy to put a guilt trip on myself about negotiating with people who appear less well off. But if it's a cultural norm to haggle that's what I'm doing. It's tough to believe whomever I'm negotiating with doesn't know this game better than I ever will.

A couple of things:

I'm female. Will this encourage the vendor to fix me up with his shy geeky son who's addicted to video games, or hit on me himself?

Do most sellers in Turkey and elsewhere know enough English to engage in a bargaining session?

What prices should I consider firm and not subject to negotiation? I can assume restaurant menu prices are firm, right?

It's nice getting to know the locals, but I'm not sure I would have the strength to engage them in a conversation over each trinket that catches my eye.

Stuff I want from Ist:

A dozen or so evil eye thingies in different sizes
Hamam towels
A set of hotel quality bathroom towels
A silver jewelry item or two, possibly with inlaid ceramic
100% cotton Turkish clothing
A carpet bag if they're not too expensive, and/or carpet accessories like eyeglass cases
A mosaic table lantern
A cool looking Oriental genie oil lamp if I can find one
Turkish delight candy, natch

I'm not interested in any big heavy rugs or antiquities. Looking to spend about $300-$400 total.

Good advice here so far.

For me, it boils down to:

1. Know what the item is worth to you going in to the negotiation, not what the local price would be. $30 vs $40 to you is not much of a difference, but it can be a huge difference to someone in a place like Thailand or China. Don't pay more than it's worth to you.

2. Don't ever give the impression that you're in love with an item. Mild, polite interest is where you're going for.

3. Don't be afraid to take a step back and pause negotiations to stall the momentum.

4. Walk away if the merchant won't meet the price you set in #1. The price he calls out to your back is often his best price given your price constraints.

5. Ignore all signs that the merchant is annoyed or selling under duress. They will only ever sell if they're making money. Everything else is an act.

6. Don't be an American. Literally. I was in Dubai and wanted to buy a dish dasha (the Arabic robe garment) and headdress. Went to a store with a friend who is American but born in Russia. The guy insisted that this poor quality dish dasha was a $200 item and wouldn't budge...until my friend started talking to him in Russian. Suddenly I was only paying $15. As my friend told me after we left, he knew I was American and that "Americans don't know what things cost...but Russians have a keen eye for value."

Yes and yes. Please be very aware of your surroundings and situations. What may seem to be an innocent invitation to "come in and look at all the wonderful things in my shop" can quickly turn into an unwanted and unsolicited sexual advance. It happened to me. Thankfully I was able to extricate myself from the situation before things got way out of hand. The impression that many Turkish men have is that all Western women are very loose and easy.

That being said, I love Turkey and have spent many weeks there and would go back in a heartbeat. Just be mindful of your circumstances.

Also to add, go around and see the prices other vendors offer

Most important is being able to walk away.

I have had vendors follow me down three blocks each time cutting the price in half.

I usually start at 10% of the asking price and start up

For me, the haggle is the fun part.

I haven't been to Turkey but I've played this game in other countries. Some advice which applies not only to haggling but to so many other aspects of international travel: Don't rush right in, but spend some time watching what other people are doing. This is particularly true if you can see how the locals handle it, and try to do the same. Or watch how a clumsy, loud, obnoxious tourist does it and do something different.

In general I agree with BDA shorts about having a conversation, but if the vendor is a man, this may easily be misconstrued so be careful.

And another approach, if the price isn't coming down to your level, is to ask for another item: "That's too much for just a necklace but I'll pay that if you include this bracelet as well."

I could fake being a Canadian, and do a dead-on British accent, but speaking Russian is beyond my skill sets.

eBay has been very useful here. I got to know in advance what I want to shop for and the going prices, including shipping.

Actually, as a shameless cheapskate, I have some experience haggling at the local flea market. The walkaway method doesn't work here, but agreeing to buy several of anything usually does. Showing them you're low on money helps, and they'll agree to take what you've got left.

I've assumed this conversation is about cash only. What about using credit cards and haggling?

Ooh, my favorite trick when I want to buy multiples of something:

Do my little haggling dance with the vendor for one, maybe two. Buy them. Come back all the way at the end of your time in the market, chat with him a bit more, and say, "You know what, I'd like to buy X more of these. But I need you to give me a good price." Dance again.

As for credit cards--they're going to pay a charge to their bank for accepting a credit card, so that'll just get worked into the price. Besides, for the sort of stuff you're looking for you'd prefer a guy who doesn't take cards--only some slick store that caters to tourists would take cards, and of course that means higher prices. Whatever miles you can get won't be worth the higher price you're paying.

Don't make a beeline for the thing that you are interested in. Look at a few other things first, discarding them as options. Don't show you are really interested in something, ask the price of a couple of other things to get a gist for the way they do business (I really hate the 'whatever you want to pay' or 'good price, how many do you want' lines!) And decide what the item is worth to you (e.g. you can buy nice hamam towels this side of the Atlantic for $6 or $7 with no haggling)

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.

Ain't that the truth, but just because we have regrets it doesn't mean we've done wrong

I have purchased some amazingly valuable things for pennies, and it don't bother me none. You heard of "caveat emptor"? It works both ways, the seller must beware, too. Nobody pitied me when I sold things too cheaply, and I did many times.

I plan to take about $500 with me to Turkey. This should cover 6 nights, I will keep the money in several places and never flash my wad.

This has turned out to be a very fun thread. ^

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!

True. So long as we remember the lesson learned and, for good or ill, this is one epiphany that won't wear off!

According to a strict interpretation of Jewish ethics, it is wrong to take advantage of a seller's ignorance. According to Leviticus 25:14, " "If you sell something to your neighbor or buy something from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not wrong one another." Talmud interprets this to include taking advantage of a seller's ignorance or error (T. Baba Mezi'a 50a, ff). It also differentiates a layperson from a merchant.

Ya take one Jewish ethics class at Chabad....

I suspect you've never found yourself in such dire straits that would necessitate you selling your hair and front teeth! [yay! movie/play/novel ref ] And should fortune ever frown upon you to such a degree that you "depended upon the kindness of strangers" [another play/movie ref! ], I hope they show you more kindness than I did to that girl.