So, one month later and I finally get around to making a new post! Life has been awfully busy, but now that I am (relatively) settled in Hangzhou, I feel like it's time for some more sharing of my knowledge (so far!). This post is about how to bargain in China, or at least which methods I have learned have helped me get a cheaper price! All you need is some basic Chinese, some confidence and a sense of humor.
1. Learn your numbers! a street market will be unlikely to charge you anything over 100rmb, so you don't need too many!
1 - Yi (ee)
2 - Er (arrrr)
3 - San
4 - Si (ssss)
5 - Wu (woo)
6 - Liu (lee-oh)
7 - Qi (chee)
8 - Ba
9 - Jiu (jee-oh)
10 - Shi (Shh)
100 - Bai (bah-ee)
Chinese numbers are set out similar to roman numerals, for example, to say 15 you would say (Yi) Shi Wu (ie. 10 + 5), 37 would be San Shi Qi (3+10+7) etc.
Although this is not entirely necessary, as the language of fingers is probably enough, but these sellers will be unlikely to know much english and a "westerner" attempting to speak any Chinese is usually looked upon very well; it can only help your cause! ;D
2. Never take the asking price. The first step is to ask what price they are offering (多少钱?). They will tell you the highest price they think they can get away with (bear in mind they will try to charge westerners more, as they hope you are naive tourists!), let's say it's a t-shirt and they want you to pay 50rmb (approx. £5). At this you should make sounds of surprise, and say such things as 太贵了！(Tai gui le! So expensive!) and offer a much lower price, in this case maybe 20rmb, usually somewhere around 40% is a good bet. They will not take your lowest offer, so aim bellow what you are prepared to spend. They will probably also feign surprise, and not want to budge, but you have to be quite firm if you want it cheaper!
3. If they will not give in, walk away. If you do this, they may call you back offering you a slightly better price, success! Although when you have a particularly tough seller, you may need to walk away a couple of times before they give in to a price that you are happy with.
4. Buy one get one free! Another good tactic to take, especially with clothes is to ask for a discount for more than one item. They're offering 50rmb per T-shirt? Ask if they can make it cheaper for 2 (两个七十块， 可以？Liang ge qi shi kuai, ke yi? Can you do 2 for 70rmb?）If you buy many items, it's possible to drive the price down quite a lot.
5. Inspect the quality. Check if there are any flaws, for example loose threads, lopsidedness, chips in pottery, etc. No doubt when you point these out, the seller will assure you their price is still right, but it can help you "build your case" for a cheaper price!
6. Shop around. If you see something you like, bear in mind that many of these stalls will sell similar if not identical items, perhaps for a better price or better condition. Usually fans, i-phone cases, clothes, jewellery and makeup are all easy to find again in the same market, so don't get too attached, as you will kick yourself when you see the same t-shirt 5 minutes later for half the price!
7. Have a sense of humor. These shop owners have probably done this for a long while, many nights a week, so they can play it like a game. If you're friendly, attempt some Chinese and play along, you can no doubt get a cheaper price, as well as have a good time~
8. Don't try to bargain everywhere! Be careful you don't go overboard. There is an appropriate time for bargaining, and the department store or restaurant isn't it! Also, I wouldn't bargain with street food, the price is already very good, and you may offend the store owner, if the price isn't right, just walk on.
Happy bargaining!!
