erection day Posted June 25, 2007 Report Share Posted June 25, 2007 One of the joy of being a tourist is being able to bargain when shopping for a particular souvenir which caught your eyes. Bargaining should be done in a light sprit and not be demeaning to the stall owner. An article in Sunday Times yesterday by Mathew Pereira:'In Bali, bargaining is expected and is part of the fun of shopping. The woman seller's asking price for the bag was $150. Back here in Spore, I would have considered $250 a steal. But this being Bali, I haggled and offered her the equivalent of $35. She turned it down, she counter-offered, and so did I and so on. After about 20 mins, we agreed on a price- $50. Later, I had a chat with friends about where on should draw the line when bargaining. They took a business-like and uncompromising view, assuring me that no trader would sell anything to me at a loss. I must admit I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to bargaining. I tend to cave it quite quickly. It is just not in my blood, though I wont go so far as to say that it is not in my genes. My 15-year-old son can look a hawker straight in the eye, slash 30 percent off and not even flinch. However, he learnt that you can push it too far. He recently went to Bangkok for a rugby tour. While shopping, they had a field day bargaining- except at one stall . My son turned around to walk away after a bout of protracted bargaining ended with the seller refusing to lower the price further for a T-shirt that my son was interested in. The woman seller then said to him" 'You dont buy the T-shirt, I'll kill you.' He bought it. Perhaps she just got fed up with his hard haggling. Or perhaps, she simply needed the money. In which case, it was a useful lesson.' I also admit I am a bit of a whimp when it comes to bargaining. Maybe it's a 'woman's thing' to be good at that. But when shopping in some countries like Thailand or Indonesia, you must bargain to get a good deal. I dont know if you can still bargain in Hong Kong pasam malam (it's been years since I visited there) and I'm sure in Japan or Korea, one cannot bargain. Dont know if I'm right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oralb Posted June 25, 2007 Report Share Posted June 25, 2007 my take on Bargaining...i always tell myself- i can never get the cheapest- all things in the store are fakes or imitationsusually i would bargain to a price that i felt it is okay, i know some love to drive the price down to the lowest, but i felt we should let the owner earn that bit.there was once a friend of mine spent a good 15 minutes trying to lower the price by the 10 to 20 Singapore cents. though he gotten what he wanted, time was wasted and the owner was visually unhappy. Quote When I Think It, I Do It, I Win It! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy@Tokyo Posted June 25, 2007 Report Share Posted June 25, 2007 How to bargain in Japan----------------------------------The art of bargaining is not so difficult to learn, but to succeed, is another matter .It is possible to bargain in japan. the phrases to use are as follows:Takai desune Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erection day Posted June 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2007 In Bangkok, expensive is 'Pan'. So if the stall owner quote the first price, just say 'Pan' as you are in 'Pain' after hearing it Some of them would reply 'Mai Pan'- not expensive. After that, I dont know what to say, except to repeat 'Pan' (in higher pitch) and hope for the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy@Tokyo Posted June 25, 2007 Report Share Posted June 25, 2007 u can say Ubat or leaw(low tone) if they say mai pan . they would be shocked and maybe would give u discount.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erection day Posted June 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2007 Ar... what exactly is Ubat or leaw (which has to be spoken in low tone)? Andy, you teaching people bad things ah??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy@Tokyo Posted June 25, 2007 Report Share Posted June 25, 2007 ED, just some thai for fun. kekeke.ubat is Stupid. Jap: Baka, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erection day Posted July 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 When in Bkk, try to bargain with a guy. We guys are no match for the women. I saw two Chang Beers T-shirt which I absolutely must have. Bargained with the woman at the stall for close to 5min (I keep repeating 'pan', she saying 'mai pan'). In the end paid up 300bhts for two t-shirts. Few days later, friend asked me buy two more, went back to the same stall. Asked the guy (thankfully that girl nowhere in sight) 'buy two can cheaper?'. He said 'can, 280 bhts' straight away. It's a saving of only 20 bhts but I was pretty happy with myself then. The fun of bargaining is 'winning' the bargain even if its just a small sum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massagee Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 I totally soooock at bargaining. Bought a Ipod Arm Strap recently and I told the sales person "I'm terrible at bargaining, if you give me the best price, we can save loads of time" And it turned out to be cheapest of its kind I've seen in Sim Lim, Bugis and Orchard alike.I can't bargain so I normally won't. I attempted it when I was rather young and it left a bitter note. Was in a Queensway shop for a bag. I was trying my best to reduce the bag's price to a comfortable level. The salesauntie then said "Only girls bargain". I took out the cash from my wallet, walked to the manager of the shop, saying "I originally want to buy a bag in this shop", inserted cash back and left. Quote google areanpull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 Poor Messagee, you must have been deeply traumatised by that unfortunate event in Queentown. Of course, you can bargain in Bangkok. In fact, it's expected of you. If you dont bargain, in their mind, they will be thinking 'stupid tourist'. But please dont show off your bargaining power in places like Siam Paragon or Erawan Plaza. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massagee Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 Poor Messagee, you must have been deeply traumatised by that unfortunate event in Queentown. Come to think of it, I may have. I should start bargaining again and kill those aunties that give me the "only girls bargain" face. Thanks for the empathy, guest. appreciated. Quote google areanpull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazygolfer Posted July 31, 2007 Report Share Posted July 31, 2007 ubat is Stupid. Jap: Baka, Quote Quote: Golf and sex are about the only things you can enjoy without being good at them. ~ US Professional Golfer Jimmy DemaretQuote: If you watch a game, it's fun. If you play at it, it's recreation. If you work at it, it's golf. ~ Actor Bob Hope (1903 - 2003) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erection day Posted August 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 Hmm....the Beer Chang singlets which I bought from BKK (after much bargaining), after just one wash, the colour of the logo has faded out badly. Now, the colour not so vibrant anymore. So fast. Lousy singlets. :yuk: Maybe I should hand wash them next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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