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How To Haggle Like a Pro

September 1, 2012 by The Runaway Guide 24 Comments

sudanese-shopkeeper-kid-2Few feelings are worse as a budget backpacker than knowing that you’ve just been ripped off. You feel cheated, outwitted, and like a dumb tourist. Scenes of your antagonist laughing his/her way to the bank begin to plague your waking life. You imagine all the meals you could have afforded if you hadn’t succumbed to that shopkeepers inflated price. It is one of the most frustrating and self-angering feelings in the world.

Unfortunately, no matter how many times you’ve been ripped off in the past, it seems to happen time and time again. Fortunately, through an understanding of why we let this happen, and the haggling tactics of hustling shopkeepers, we can begin to abate it and one day come out on top with the best price possible.

Understanding Their Tactics

 

Our tragic flaw as Westerners is that we are just too dang polite and inexperienced in the art of haggling. We are a society of people programmed to avoid confrontation. Our prices are fixed and unless you are from an older generation, hardly anyone dares to question them. It is just the way that our culture of capitalism has developed. The result of which is a generation of soft people who regularly allow themselves to be shit on by exorbitant prices.

Shopkeepers around the world realize this and capitalize gloriously on it. They play us tourists like impotent puppets. They know we have money and they know how to play on our weaknesses in order to acquire it. Below is a list of strategies shopkeepers employ to convince us that we want to be shit on.

1 Anger

Shopkeepers know how uncomfortable confrontation makes us feel, especially when it concerns money. To capitalize on this weakness, they often become upset. They sometimes even start to yell in a disorienting manner. More times than not, most of us will give in and pay whatever price they ask.

2 Let’s Be Friends

One of the most popular tactics around the world is for shopkeepers to appeal to your politeness and your desire to make friends with locals. They do this by being overly polite and amiable. They will try to relate to you on multiple levels. However, soon after, they will begin to pressure you into buying half their shop. However, sometimes they really do just want to be your friend, in which case, you should use your best judgement.

3 The Guilt Trip

This strategy is one of the most effective. They know that many of us harbor guilt about our relative wealth in comparison to the local country. And they know that if they tell you of their poverty and economic hardship that most of us will help out by buying a trinket or two. However, even in the poorest country, don’t be fooled. Shopkeepers that are clever enough to employ this method are usually the ones that are most well off.

4 Children

This is one of the saddest and thus another very effective technique. Countless parents around the world play on our compassion by sending their kids out into the street to sell everything from tissues to bracelets. Since we can almost never resist the pleas of children, we give in and buy. However, by buying from kids we inadvertently support the use of children as vendors. More, the parents or shopkeepers are the ones who actually get paid.

Don’t be fooled by the tactics of shopkeepers. If they get angry, just leave. If they want to become your friend, they really just want your money. When they guilt trip you, they are usually driving home in a quality car. And if they use their kids, refuse to support it. They are professionals with life long experience in the art of squeezing money out of tourists. Don’t let them get the better of you and shit on your budget.

How to Haggle Like a Pro

 

In order to haggle like a pro, it is time to get tough. You must be familiar and immune to the former tactics and realize that business is business. You need to let go your compassion and politeness and know that any price can be haggled down.  Below is a list of everything you need to know to haggle like a pro.

1 Tourist vs Local Prices

One of the hardest aspects of haggling is not knowing the actual or fair price. Throughout the world, many shopkeepers and restaurant owners have separate prices for tourists and locals. Often times, tourist prices can be many times greater than the local price. In order to find out the real price, it is your turn to guilt trip them. Ask them or onlookers strait out, “Is this the foreigner price or local/your, price?” When they smile stupidly at you, then you know that they are trying to sell you tourist prices. If no one admits to the normal price, a good rule of thumb to determine the local price is to subtract around 60%. Remember, you can always raise your offer, but never lower it again once you do. Start low and settle in the middle.

2 Everything is Made in China

It is an unfortunate truth theses days that almost everything is made in China. As a result, whatever it is you want to buy, it can usually be found at multiple shops. That being said, if you can’t get the price you want for something, simply move on to the next shop and try again.

3 Walk Away

Even if what you want to buy is unique to only one shop, walking away during negotiations is one of the best ways to secure a lower price. As you walk away, the shopkeeper will almost always yell out lower prices. Stop for a minute and feign interest, and then keep on walking. When you hear a price you like, you can always return.

4 Wait Until They Get Angry

You know you have haggled the best price possible when the shopkeeper is genuinely mad and frustrated. Although it might make you feel guilty, just don’t. There are plenty of other tourists he or she can rob in the future.

Even if you are aware of your weaknesses, the tactics used by shopkeepers, and the art of haggling, there will still be times that you will be ripped off. We can never truly rid ourselves of our own haggle-less culture and become as tough as hardened shopkeepers. It is simply one of the trails of traveling. If you let your self get too worked up over it, then you will become a pretty sour puss of a backpacker.  While you should try your best to get a price that you’re happy with, don’t beat yourself up too bad if you don’t. Every haggling experience teaches you something and there is always another day and another shop to haggle at.

Good luck and gyp free travels,

-Leif

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Filed Under: Budget Travel Tagged: budget, egypt, middle east, morocco

Let Me Know What You Think!

  1. Brock says

    September 23, 2015 at 8:17 pm

    Ughhhh. Totally. I absolutely hate confrontation – in all aspects of life. I will always, always, always pay the price simply to avoid an awkward confrontation. A western weakness, I suppose.

    Reply
    • The Runaway Guide says

      September 23, 2015 at 10:57 pm

      Yea, I know what you mean. Now that I have a bigger budget, I also tend to tone down my haggling as it’s just not worth the stress to me sometimes.

      Reply
  2. anil_traveller says

    August 7, 2015 at 5:55 am

    nice post! The walking away tactic is probably the most effective. And its even more effective if you’re visiting a country during the low season. Cheers!

    Reply
    • The Runaway Guide says

      August 13, 2015 at 11:06 am

      Hey, yea, walking away is probably the one I end up using the most. And it does work best in the low season :)

      Reply
  3. Proske says

    January 22, 2015 at 10:56 am

    Great article! The waiting until they get angry is a good one. I once had a woman looking really sad when she wrapped the sweater I wanted to buy so I think that’s up the same alley.

    Another great trick is to only bring what you want to pay. You need some time to know what the local price should be, but it worked with me a few times since you really can’t pay more (or it’s just in another pocket).
    When talking about taking your time: speaking the local language helps a lot and knowing what should be paid even more. This info can be gained by experience, or easier: waiting around a bit for a local to buy his stuff first and only then buying your own goods. Met a lot of travelers using this technique as well.

    I also noticed that haggling is very different around the world: in country’s like Thailand or Morocco you’re supposed to do it, the shopkeeper even expects you to.
    In Peru on the other hand some shopkeepers were quite offended when I started to haggle. From an old Icelandic couple (65+ and still backpacking!) I learned that the easiest way to haggle there was not going down on the price but asking extra’s for free. It worked a lot better indeed.
    At school I even learned this in an economics class.
    Leading sentence should be something like this: “well, but for a premium price like that surely *this* or *that* should be included!” works even in Europe, this one.

    Reply
    • The Runaway Guide says

      January 23, 2015 at 8:34 am

      Interesting! I didn’t know that about Peru. But yea, haggling culture really varies from region to region. In Korea it all about asking for extras or service, for free. Nice strategies and tips! Cheers!

      Reply
  4. hisgar says

    February 23, 2014 at 6:44 am

    nice advice, i tried a few before and it worked. wanna try the others very soon.

    Reply
    • The Runaway Guide says

      February 27, 2014 at 3:25 am

      haha, great! Glad to help!

      Reply
  5. ben says

    February 12, 2014 at 6:44 pm

    Great advice, I’ll be sure to try that out this summer

    Reply
    • The Runaway Guide says

      February 19, 2014 at 7:03 am

      thanks Ben! Don’t let them win!!!

      Reply
  6. Adrian says

    February 7, 2013 at 5:54 am

    Love this articles mate – especially waiting until they get angry!

    Reply
    • The Runaway Guide says

      February 8, 2013 at 11:09 pm

      Hey Adrian, thanks! Yup that’s def when you know. hah

      Reply
  7. Simon says

    February 2, 2013 at 11:33 pm

    Nice tips there! I always end up getting buggered by these guys apart from the time I bought an awesome huge shisha in Morocco. I knew I got a good price when he was angrily wrapping it in paper and not talking to me anymore haha

    Reply
    • The Runaway Guide says

      February 4, 2013 at 3:29 pm

      Hahah, yup that’s how it goes. Well done!

      Reply
  8. Angela says

    January 7, 2013 at 10:11 am

    Good to read! I hate haggling, it always makes me feel like a bad person and I guess shopkeepers kind of pick up on that so I always overpay. Not anymore! (or so I hope)

    Reply
    • The Runaway Guide says

      January 8, 2013 at 10:13 am

      Hey Angela, I hear ya. It takes a while to get used to it but it’s worth it when you do, just gotta be tough :)

      Reply
  9. Christina says

    December 26, 2012 at 12:34 pm

    This is awesome!! So true. My dad taught me to haggle in Mexico when I was 6 and wanted silver jewelry. I still haggle best in Spanish haha. -Christina (www.takemoretrips.blogspot.com)

    Reply
    • The Runaway Guide says

      December 30, 2012 at 11:11 am

      Nicee! It’s definitely an art that takes many years to get good at.

      Reply
  10. Jennifer says

    November 18, 2012 at 10:28 am

    Great haggling tips, your right – we’re all just too polite. Sounds like you’ve been travelling in India to pick up all the haggling knowledge and bitterness!

    Reply
    • The Runaway Guide says

      December 11, 2012 at 7:37 pm

      How could you tell :) Yea, India definitely makes me that way. At first I’m cool with the craziness but after 5 months, whew, it wears down on you.

      Reply
  11. Dante Harker says

    September 3, 2012 at 6:01 am

    Haggling is a pain though, sometimes you just want to buy something, it’s hot, you’re sweating like a pig-dog and you really just want to be out of there – boo!

    Still, you’re advice is spot on. I normally decide on what I think is a fair price and then offer half that. So if they say 100 and I want it for 50, I’ll offer 25 and hope to meet in the middle. It works some of the time, which is great :)

    Reply
    • The Runaway Guide says

      September 4, 2012 at 10:35 am

      I hear ya, that is usually why I break down and just buy. I like your method of 75% off and then meet at 50.

      Reply
  12. OutsideTheGuidebook says

    September 2, 2012 at 3:30 pm

    Nice one matey. There is some good value in that post. Neat.

    Reply
    • The Runaway Guide says

      September 4, 2012 at 10:26 am

      Cheers!

      Reply

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Who Is The Runaway Guide?

When I was 16 I ran away from home and traveled the world with nothing but the clothes on my back. Over 10 years later and I'm still "on the run," surviving in style, thriving off adventure, searching for that elusive road to enlightenment, and cultivating the life of travel that I want to live. More...

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