How to Bargain With a Street Vendor in a Foreign Country
The idea of bargaining while traveling can be daunting, but everyone can do it. It’s really just a test to see if you can buy something for less than the price offered by a street vendor. But there is art to it – it can be a problem, especially if the language barrier means you don’t communicate as clearly as you could. So, here’s how you can bargain without the hassle.
Know before you leave
As Americans, no matter how we tell people that we, on a global scale, we walk with dollar signs on our backs. Understand that you will automatically be offered a higher price simply because of how strong our currency is compared to the currencies of many other countries.
Because of this, when I travel, it is always much easier for me to know how much things should cost, or perhaps why another traveler bought them. Fortunately, there are many travel blogs and forums where you can search to see how much you owe or might spend on knick-knacks and other items that you are likely to buy on the street.
Learn the jargon
If you are not a native speaker of the place you are visiting, I would suggest that you learn enough to survive – if only to help you avoid the notoriously unfair purchase price.
Here are the things I always find out before trying to bargain:
- Numbers from 1 to 20, 30, 40, 50 and up to 100. Also 200, 300, 400 and up to 1000.
- “How many?”
- “The price is too high.”
- “I only have [insert a lower number]”
Bring home
One of the easiest ways to help you fight is to shop with a native speaker. On one of my first trips to Khan El Kalili in Old Cairo, I was fortunate enough to go with an Egyptian woman who haggled on my behalf. However, when it turned out that we were together, the sellers did not tell her the “local” price on my behalf.
However, in the long run, having a native speaker with you can eliminate your tendency to sound dumb by testing your rudimentary language skills, or frustrated to find you paid much more money than you need to buy a souvenir.
The price is correct
Most of the bargaining happens with the right mindset. You may not be wealthy, but if you are a traveler, you do have a privilege unlike the people in the places you visit. Price hikes in America are considered unfair because fixed-price stores are the norm in our culture. This is not the case in most parts of the world – and depending on where you travel, an even higher price than the locals would pay will be much less than what you would pay for a similar item in the US.
When you are a traveler from the United States and interact with street vendors, you need to understand that they are not necessarily trying to rob you – they need to support themselves and their families. As someone who has the means to travel abroad, you can probably afford to pay a little more. This does not mean that you have to pay the initial asking price, but it will help you keep your transaction in perspective.
A friendlier approach to bargaining can actually make the process feel more like using skills than anything else, and it can make the process less difficult and more fun.