Travel China FAQ: Hunting for Bargains While Hunting for Souvenirs (2)

Another important thing to remember is to be patient. You may see a must-have item just a few days into your trip, spend a fortune just to buy it, and then find that same item at souvenir stands all over the country as you travel. For example, you may want to buy a karst landscape painting in Guilin, but landscape paintings with a karst theme are available in almost any Chinese city. Besides, you don’t want to be lugging these items all over the country with the rest of your luggage. Finally, you may learn a thing or two about bargaining during the trip that would have come in useful earlier when you bought souvenirs.

Which brings us to the item that is on almost everybody’s mind when the mention shopping in China: bargaining. I cannot offer any great advice, because no matter what I buy and not matter how much I pay for it, all my Chinese friends say the person who sold it to me was “killing a pig”, that I got ripped off. The golden rule really is true: Only pay the amount that the item is worth to you. When you get back to the US, no one is going to say you got ripped off (they probably won’t even ask you how much you paid for the item, while asking what you paid is the norm in China). There are a bunch of other “golden rules” on the internet about shopping in China, but most of them are worthless. The most popular of these is the “try to bargain the price down to 1/3 of the original quoted price”. This rule is so popular that souvenir sellers figured it out years ago, and simply charge an additional 3 times the price they planned on quoting anyway.



Some of the other general guidelines I have seen are actually useful, though. Once again, patience is the key. Be prepared to spend a lot of time going back and forth with the seller, and be prepared to walk away. Another good idea is to practice your bargaining on inexpensive items before you go shopping for that “antique” for your living room. Finally, do not get emotional. This covers both anger and pity— never raise your voice with a seller or act frustrated, and never feel sorry for the seller. He will not sell you an item if he is not making any money.

Of course, it is best to learn a few important phrases to use while shopping, especially duoshao qian (how much) and bu hui ba (that’s impossible). And again, for those truly lost in translation moments, your Yoyoor sidekicks are waiting at the Call Center to help you figure things out.

Posted at 09:25AM Oct 07, 2008 by admin in Laowai Talk  |  Comments[1]