Nik and I purchased vegetables from this man in Udaipur, India for our local cooking class, and the our instructor sent a neighborhood girl with us so that we didn't have to haggle!!
Eric at Travelblogs.com recently opened a debate among bloggers entitled, “To Haggle or Not To Haggle”, and it has brought up several great responses from several travelers. Below is the question Eric asked as well as my response and I’d love to hear what you think as well.
Picture this: You’re in an unnamed Asian country, buying food from a street vendor. The vendor quotes you a price which, compared to the price you’d pay for food back at home, is incredibly cheap. But you also know that the price he has quoted you is the “tourist price”, a figure that is much higher than the price he charges locals.
Do you try to haggle him down, or do you pay him the price he’s asking?
Haggle. Chances are that the price he just quoted me is at least double his locals price, so if I haggle him down to half way between the two, we both win. Also, I’ll gain his respect, and the respect of all the other vendors within earshot, because I understand his system so that the next time I visit his stall, he’ll probably start at the 150% mark up instead of the 200%.
If he doesn’t budge, there’s always the tried and true method of walking away. If he doesn’t come running after you giving you your price, then the next vendor down the row will because they want your business. Definitely Haggle. It’s the Asian way.
4 comments ↓
Nomadic Matt
January 28, 2009 at 3:32 amit’s considered rude to haggle for food. In vietnam, i’ve only haggled with the bread sellers but overall, if you haggle for food in countries like thailand, they will be very disrespected.
Jamie
January 28, 2009 at 4:04 pmMatt, I agree that it is tricky to haggle for food. I only recommend it if you know for a fact that you are being charged more than normal. I never felt like I had insulted any of the food vendors in Thailand by asking for a more reasonable price though. Also, most Thai food vendors have their prices clearly marked, so there’s no need to haggle.
annamatic
February 3, 2009 at 7:05 pmSometimes i feel a little silly haggling, knowing that the amount in question is the equivalent of like… 10 cents… in the U.S. I WILL haggle if the price just seems egregiously inflated, but I’m usually willing to pay slightly higher than normal/local prices…
To Haggle or Not To Haggle | Gold Travel Hotel Pub
June 16, 2010 at 2:07 pm[...] To haggle or not to haggle by Jamie Sinz. [...]