When you Travel to Beijing, you must either know some bargaining tips as shopping in Beijing can be quite expensive if you are a foreigner. There are lots of shopping areas around Beijing streets such as Wang Fu Jin, Silk Street, Yaxiu (Yashow) Market and many more and sometimes when you shop around that area, vendors tend to mark-up their prices really high. So when you follow any China Tours to a shopping area, make sure that you develop some bargaining skills as it does come in really handy in China.
Silk Street
Wang Fu Jing Market
Yaxiu (Yashow) Market
10 Bargaining Tips:
1) Keep in mind where you are shopping. If you are in the surrounding area of a tourist attraction, the vendors will automatically charge you a significant amount of money more than if you were to buy the item in a market within the city.
2) Keep in mind what time is it. The best time to get good bargains is when it is during closing time. Vendors would want to let go their stocks by the end of the day so they would start being realistic and would compromise more.
3) In general, don’t ask how much something is unless you are prepared to bargain for it. This will save you the trouble of having to fend off the vendors as they call after you waving their calculations and chasing you through the market.
4) Bring small change and do not use credit cards at the market. The vendors generally just use cash when dealing with customers.
5) Don’t act too interested and don’t get attached to whatever you are bargaining for. If you are in a market, chances are there are ten more stalls selling the exact same thing. Browse around more so you can know more or less the item you wanted should cost.
6) Be firm and polite at the same time, it’s all a game.
7) Walk away! This is the hardest one to get used to but the vendor will only let you walk away when he or she cannot give you the bargaining price.
8) Joke with them. If they are being ridiculous, do the same thing. If you smile and laugh with them you will get much better results than if you act pissed off, this would cause them to lose face. Also, it is good to remind them that the item is not real.
9) Decide what you want to pay beforehand. Tell yourself you are not spending more than X amount. If you can’t get the price down then just leave.
10) Start way lower than what you are willing to pay – if you want to pay 100, start at 25 and gauge the reaction to meet in the middle. But remember, do not pay more than what you initially decided. Remember, they will always give you the most ridiculous price first.
If this has inspires you to shop then book any china travel and start practicing your bargaining style!
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