Rules of haggling

So, I’m back in Sweden, and felt that perhaps a bit of summing up would be in place. One word: absolutelywonderful. The course surpassed my expectations, I’ve had a great time, I love Shanghai, I’ve done a tremendous amount of shopping, and last but most important of all, I’ve learned so much and feel that I’ve grown as a human being and gotten to know myself better than before. All in all, it was an invaluable experience, and I can’t wait until I get back to Asia again.

So, now that that’s been dealt with, I figured I’d make myself a bit useful to other people as well and put together some simple rules of thumb to keep in mind if you want to be a good haggler (I got seriously good at it):

1. Get to know the market. This is basic principle number one. Unless you know what stuff is roughly worth, then you’re gonna pay an overprice. A good way of doing this is to simply go into a supermarket or regular store with fixed prices (if such a thing exists) and see how much they charge for clothes, trinkets and the like. Another way is to simply probe the market, by starting to haggle but in the end not buying anything (if they drop the price really fast to what you’re asking for, then the price is still too high). After a number of different tries you’ll get a feel for what the lower limit for things is, and how much the price can vary. A third option is to simply start buying things (bargain as much as you can), and realise that you will pay an overprice the first number of times (but this basically always holds true if you’re new to bargaining (and you’ll feel you’ve made a great deal nonetheless)). But through practice comes knowledge, and you’ll quickly get a lot better.

2. Always be prepared to leave. This means that as soon as you feel that you can’t leave without actually buying whatever it is you’re haggling for, you will be paying too much for it. Starting to walk away (for real, not just slowly as if you’re waiting for them to call out for you; once I went 30 meters before the woman came running after me screaming “Okay!”) ususally makes them drop the price to what you’re asking for (unless the price you’re asking for is outrageously low (i.e they won’t make any profit at all)). Keep in mind that there are usually a lot of other stores that sell the same thing; this should make it easier to leave.

3. Lies are part of the game. The salesperson always lies (“Very good quality”, “Very low price”, “Special price for you my friend”), so why shouldn’t you? Claiming that you can buy something at home for the same price they’re asking for is always a good argument, or that another shop offered you even less (keep in mind these people will know the market even better than you do, so keep your lies feasible). If you’ve made some other similar purchases (especially if you’re still carrying them with you) you can always claim you got them cheaper than you actually did (or if you already got a really good price on them, that’ll at least help you drop the price here as well).

4. The more you buy from the same place (at once, or even if you go there several times) the cheaper you can get it. If you’ve made a good deal once and come back, they usually remember you and will be more willing to give you a good price this time as well.

5. Examine the product properly (even if you have no clue how to find out if it’s good quality or not). Not only will it help you find faults with it which might push the price a bit further, but it also makes you come off as if you actually know what you’re talking about, which gives you an advantage.

6. Be coldhearted. They will be playing with your emotions (keep in mind, it’s all an act), so make sure you’re not affected. This also includes comparing prices with western ones. If you do that, you’re screwed. You need to think like a local, and compare it to local prices, lest you’ll be paying too much.

7. Be prepared to spend time bargaining. I once spent half an hour haggling for three paintings before I got it down to what I wanted. Basically, the bigger the deal, the longer you’ll be able to haggle, and the better the price you can theoretically get.

I’m not claiming that these seven rules are all-encompassing (quite definitely there are many more, but these are the ones I could come up with, derived from my own personal experiences), but they will do quite a lot of good if you adhere to them. If anyone has any more nifty rules, feel free to comment.

~ by koeus on July 31, 2008.