With each site we visit there is inevitably a gateway of shopping to pass before we get to the actual attraction. Sometimes they are loosely dressed as part of the experience – the ‘Jade Museum’, the ‘Terracotta Factory’ and the ‘Lacquer Workshop’. Other times they are blatant shopping centres built to capture rich tourists with to much disposable income or, like today, they are honest tourist markets – there to do little more than sell you cheap trinkets and fake watches. Whatever the shopping experience there are a couple of things to remember.
First, the shop owners will hound you the moment you walk in the shop. Depending on their level of English and sophistication they may start by engaging you with small talk before gently introducing objects that “will benefit you and your family for years to come” or the more direct “Want this? Will do special cheap price for you!” Most of the time this is both annoying and counter productive and causes you to leave before you’ve finished browsing. God help you if you show the slightest interest in anything they have to offer – you’re likely to have 3 or 4 sales assistants descend on you like vultures if the catch sight of the colour of your money.
Second, never pay the ticket price. Ticket prices appear to have been produced by thinking of a random number and then adding a 0. Sometimes the seller won’t even price their goods – instead they will give you a price based on your perceived level of gullibility. Mum still hasn’t gotten the hang of haggling and has, on a number of occasions, been heard asking the shop assistant the price of an object and then following up with “Oh that sounds very cheap” or “Isn't that reasonable”. Invariably Meng steps in and escorts mum quickly away from the stall having lost any semblance of a bargaining position. We now have a system that involves mum spotting something she likes then moving quickly away from the stall and letting Meng step in. It's surprising how such a sweet girl as Meng can turn very aggressive in a bargaining situation. Her arrival on the scene is invariably treated with dismay by the shop assistants as she hammers them down to half or a quarter of what they were offering my mum. I rarely understand completely what these negotiations involve but I have learned enough to try the technique myself with - some success. The patter goes something like this:
1. Pick up an object and ask its price.
2. Greet the answer with laughter and a roll of the eyes and proceed to leave.
3. At this point the assistant will chase after you asking how much you are prepared to pay. Tell them you aren’t interested and clearly have very different opinions of the value of the goods on offer.
4. The assistant will ask you to name you price and you answer with an amount that is about one quarter of what they are asking.
5. At this point the shop assistant will look incredibly hurt and start to demonstrate the high quality of thing you are buying. Ignore them – apologise for wasting their time and leave the shop.
6. They will then chase you down the street with a new and much more reasonable offer (sometimes the offer you were originally going to pay).
Turn back hesitate for a moment, as though in thought, then pay the money.
It worked for me today at Xi'an market. I bought a box of paint brushes which were offered to me at £25 for £5. I'm going to start using the technique in Marks & Spencer’s when I get home - think of the Money I'll save!!
First, the shop owners will hound you the moment you walk in the shop. Depending on their level of English and sophistication they may start by engaging you with small talk before gently introducing objects that “will benefit you and your family for years to come” or the more direct “Want this? Will do special cheap price for you!” Most of the time this is both annoying and counter productive and causes you to leave before you’ve finished browsing. God help you if you show the slightest interest in anything they have to offer – you’re likely to have 3 or 4 sales assistants descend on you like vultures if the catch sight of the colour of your money.
Second, never pay the ticket price. Ticket prices appear to have been produced by thinking of a random number and then adding a 0. Sometimes the seller won’t even price their goods – instead they will give you a price based on your perceived level of gullibility. Mum still hasn’t gotten the hang of haggling and has, on a number of occasions, been heard asking the shop assistant the price of an object and then following up with “Oh that sounds very cheap” or “Isn't that reasonable”. Invariably Meng steps in and escorts mum quickly away from the stall having lost any semblance of a bargaining position. We now have a system that involves mum spotting something she likes then moving quickly away from the stall and letting Meng step in. It's surprising how such a sweet girl as Meng can turn very aggressive in a bargaining situation. Her arrival on the scene is invariably treated with dismay by the shop assistants as she hammers them down to half or a quarter of what they were offering my mum. I rarely understand completely what these negotiations involve but I have learned enough to try the technique myself with - some success. The patter goes something like this:
1. Pick up an object and ask its price.
2. Greet the answer with laughter and a roll of the eyes and proceed to leave.
3. At this point the assistant will chase after you asking how much you are prepared to pay. Tell them you aren’t interested and clearly have very different opinions of the value of the goods on offer.
4. The assistant will ask you to name you price and you answer with an amount that is about one quarter of what they are asking.
5. At this point the shop assistant will look incredibly hurt and start to demonstrate the high quality of thing you are buying. Ignore them – apologise for wasting their time and leave the shop.
6. They will then chase you down the street with a new and much more reasonable offer (sometimes the offer you were originally going to pay).
Turn back hesitate for a moment, as though in thought, then pay the money.
It worked for me today at Xi'an market. I bought a box of paint brushes which were offered to me at £25 for £5. I'm going to start using the technique in Marks & Spencer’s when I get home - think of the Money I'll save!!
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