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Q: Under what circumstances can you NOT bargain?
I must admit, I am still struggling with the whole bargaining thing.
A simple way to look at it is that bargaining is done when someone is directly involved with the profits. If the seller is on wages and paid a base salary, they cant change the price. If they are the ones directly affected by the price, then they have the ability to negotiate.
I'm not quite sure either. While I would tend to agree with bike gypsy, that's not exactly true either, unless someone gets a commission working at a clothing department store? The first time I came to China, I was with a tour group, and we split up to do some shopping in Shanghai. Later I heard someone from the group had gone to a department store and got a much lower price for a jacket.
Also, whenever I go shopping with someone here, they never bargain. I ask a friend if it's a good price and they always say yes. I don't know if they're lying to me, or if they honestly don't bargain. I've never asked them. Maybe I should. The only time I've seen a friend bargain, it was to help me buy a pair of boots. I assume the woman was the owner of the little shop.
subhash.sah:
I asked some of my Chinese friends about why they don't like to bargain. They would not give me a straight answer but i figured it must be a "face thing" like bargaining makes them look cheap or poor. That is the only rational explanation I could come up with.
You can pretty much bargain anytime and anywhere.
Rule of thumb:
1. At street vendors and shopping places with small stalls and hole in the wall type shops.
pian yi dianr ba? (can you decrese the price a lil bit?)
2. At malls and upscale place.
da zhe ma? (do you have a discount)
I am still trying to figure out their discount thing, its exactly opposite to the rest of the world.
3. Zui di duo shao qian.(What's the lowest price), You can use this everywhere.
The important thing is to be persistent and never lose your cool. Keep on smiling no matter how hiked up the price is. And don't feel ashamed to act like a foreigner who doesn't understand anything at all. You can go a long way if you know how to play dumb right. If they think you are just another dumb foreigner they wont get angry at you, even if you quote the price at 15% the original price. The best way to get a good bargain is to be shameless at times.
Sorry i don't know the tones on those. Can't remember the tones to save my life, and for some reason it won't let me type Chinese Characters.
find something u like and have a local do it for you i was shopping one time and my wife came over and starting bargaining for me and the shop keeper got mad and said why are you helping the american and my wife said iam an american also and i dont want u to f my husband really funny
If it doesn't have a barcode it's negotiable. I think.
When they are pushy pushy shovey shovey, sneaky, sneaky, peaky, peaky, dreamy, dreamy, and then all of a sudden they start to cuss at you in Chinese when you turn your back to them and you walk away! True story!
mattaya:
I bet you a dollar those four thumbs down are from those same type of market dealers....I expect more to come let them pour down....I don't care you didn't get a dollar out of me.
Generally I don't bargain, because they'll always win and you'll always over pay.
I just go to those places that dont bargain like H&M, ZARA, marks&spencer ,Motivi , hot wind.....
For other things I go to supermarket or TAOBAO.
bonita8187:
I bought a dell laptop from taobao, before that I went to mall and took a look at it, write down the type,price, then i go to tao bao and find the exactly same one and it was 1000 rmb cheaper.
mattaya:
True they will always win because what they are selling you isn't even worth the money they are asking from you. Probably isn't even worth a shiny PENNY!!!
MissA:
Thanks, Bonita. I'd always vaguely felt I was getting the worse deal of any bargaining. It's nice to know that Chinese people feel the same way!
The only place I don't try to bargain is shopping malls. I simply refuse to shop in malls and pay 30% more to cover their expensive rents.
I suppose I may refrain from bargaining in a hospital A&E, at least if it was myself that required the medical aid. Also If I decided to go for a vasectomy, again, I may decide not to barter.
