Saturday, August 4, 2007

Bargaining at Stores: Okay or Not?

When traveling to a new country, you have to learn how to shop and buy the things you want and need. However, bargaining or trying to get the shop owner to lower the price is not a universal custom around the world. In some countries, you can try to convince the shop owner to give you a better deal on some jewelery or other items, and some of these exchanges can become heated. In the US, bargaining over the price of an item is rare, except at garage sales or some flea markets. In most cases, the price listed is the price you pay. So, what about in your country? What should visitors know about shopping? Can you haggle (bargain) over the price? If so, under what conditions and situations? Share your ideas.

Randall

2 comments:

  1. I'm from Taiwan. We always do bargain when we go shopping. My mom tells me the price listed is always higher than the real price, and that's why we bargain.(She is good at bargaining.) Bargaining is one good way to make trade higher, so more you buy, comparatively less you'll pay. So, any visitors in Taiwan can't be afraid to haggle, just say "I don't think this worths the price, so I want a discount."

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm from Russia. We have not habit to bargain. Usually the price you see is the price you pay. The only exception is markets and individual salepersons.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for posting a comment. I appreciate your interesting in sharing your ideas.

Best,

Randall

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.