I always look forward to bartering while shopping during my travels. It makes each trip to the market more exciting, and sometimes exhausting. Once I even had to haggle for a toilet paper! its really a head-hanging feeling when you walk away with that sad little plastic bag full of the things you need at and overpriced ticket. Or ride the sweaty 7 hour local bus journey for more then double the price because at least you got then down to half of what they began at! This is how I feel what I do not get the deal I hoped for
However, when I do get that deal its like sky's opened up and you just know is going to be a good day. Who needed that cup of coffee anyway right? I am a lucky girl today. Here is how I feel when I get a phenomenally good price.
Bargaining is all part of the experience and something we backpackers pride ourselves on being experts at. There is nothing like the feeling that you have scored the price the locals get especially in those countries like Vietnam and Indonesia that are world renowned for ripping westerners off.
Here are some little tips:
-Do NOT buy the first thing you see. Unless you only are going to one shop you will see it again.
-It is best to buy early in the morning or just before close. In SE Asia in the morning locals are anxious for a good sale so they can see it as a sign that it will be a good day. After you will see them tap the money all over there store. Otherwise you want to catch a stall on a bad day which is frequent because here are so many redundant shops.
-I usually start at 1/2 price and try to get that or 3/4 price.
-If you see many of the same thing around and go between shops to see who has the best and they stay the same its probably a standard price for the quality.
Happy Hunting
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