I've never been very good at haggling when I travel. Most of the places I would haggle, things are cheap enough at the asking price, and the people are so poor that I don't bother. But recently I've been trying to hone my haggling skills. I bought a shirt, belt, scarf, and a new pair of underwear at the Black Market in Ulaanbaatar and saved about $4 bucks on the whole package which cost me about $22 in the end.
Not amazing, but pretty good for a haggling novice. When we arrived in Beijing I was way overdue for some new jeans. Mine were grimy and filthy and caked with mud and dirt and beer and grease and wax from weeks of traveling without washing them since I travel with only one pair of pants to keep my bag small and light. I'd have to walk around for a day without pants while waiting for my jeans to dry.
Anyway, I needed new jeans and after Adam and I walked around the Temple of Heaven Park, we stopped by Pearl Market on the Monday evening that we arrived. My first stop was actually in the camera department while we were wandering around looking for clothes. I needed a new eyepiece for my camera since the rubber fell off mine a few weeks ago. I asked about it, and it was too expensive. The guy tried to sell me some UV filters and polarized filters which I didn't need but kinda wanted. He was asking like 80 yuan for the eyepiece, 120 for the UV filter and 180 for the polarized filter. Or something like that.
Haggling ensued and after going back and forth I told him I didn't even really need or want the stuff besides the eyepiece and I was doing him a favor buying something extra. I said 100 for the eyepiece and UV filter which he reluctantly agreed to. My favorite part after a good haggle is the feigned resignation and disappointment from the salesperson. 100 yuan is about 15 bucks, which Adam told me is a good price for a UV filter, but I really have no idea. I may have got hosed, but I felt good. Haggling XP gain.
Then we went upstairs and found the "designer" jeans section. I tried on a pair of Diesels and wasn't particularly smitten with them but I know I needed them and didn't feel like shopping around and was taken in by the salesgirl, like an amateur. She said usually they were 850 but she'd give me a good price of 550. I said that's too high and she asked what the max I would pay was. I figured I usually got jeans for around $30 back home, that's 200 yuan, but I threw out 300 for some foolish reason.
She "reluctantly" agreed and I was in for a pair of jeans for about $45. Not bad if I was in America, or if they were a genuine product, or if I didn't haggle my way into a hole. Later that night one of the rivets popped off a belt loop and my belt barely fit through the loops and the pockets were too shallow. Today, the main button above the fly, which zips like a rusty relic, popped off.
I was hosed, haggling XP loss. But I learned a lesson: when haggling, things go best when you aren't committed to buying in the first place.
Not amazing, but pretty good for a haggling novice. When we arrived in Beijing I was way overdue for some new jeans. Mine were grimy and filthy and caked with mud and dirt and beer and grease and wax from weeks of traveling without washing them since I travel with only one pair of pants to keep my bag small and light. I'd have to walk around for a day without pants while waiting for my jeans to dry.
Anyway, I needed new jeans and after Adam and I walked around the Temple of Heaven Park, we stopped by Pearl Market on the Monday evening that we arrived. My first stop was actually in the camera department while we were wandering around looking for clothes. I needed a new eyepiece for my camera since the rubber fell off mine a few weeks ago. I asked about it, and it was too expensive. The guy tried to sell me some UV filters and polarized filters which I didn't need but kinda wanted. He was asking like 80 yuan for the eyepiece, 120 for the UV filter and 180 for the polarized filter. Or something like that.
Haggling ensued and after going back and forth I told him I didn't even really need or want the stuff besides the eyepiece and I was doing him a favor buying something extra. I said 100 for the eyepiece and UV filter which he reluctantly agreed to. My favorite part after a good haggle is the feigned resignation and disappointment from the salesperson. 100 yuan is about 15 bucks, which Adam told me is a good price for a UV filter, but I really have no idea. I may have got hosed, but I felt good. Haggling XP gain.
Then we went upstairs and found the "designer" jeans section. I tried on a pair of Diesels and wasn't particularly smitten with them but I know I needed them and didn't feel like shopping around and was taken in by the salesgirl, like an amateur. She said usually they were 850 but she'd give me a good price of 550. I said that's too high and she asked what the max I would pay was. I figured I usually got jeans for around $30 back home, that's 200 yuan, but I threw out 300 for some foolish reason.
She "reluctantly" agreed and I was in for a pair of jeans for about $45. Not bad if I was in America, or if they were a genuine product, or if I didn't haggle my way into a hole. Later that night one of the rivets popped off a belt loop and my belt barely fit through the loops and the pockets were too shallow. Today, the main button above the fly, which zips like a rusty relic, popped off.
I was hosed, haggling XP loss. But I learned a lesson: when haggling, things go best when you aren't committed to buying in the first place.
Maybe I'm just bitter that you didn't choose Bergen, but are you sure that English program goes beyond just becoming fluent in English? Either way get ready to give lots of informal English lessons...
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