The Art of Bargaining
About a month ago, a couple of interns and I had the opportunity to go to Shilparamam, a crafts village where many vendors sell handmade crafts, jewelry, traditional Indian clothing, food and practically every souvenir you can think of. Before we went to Shilparamam, my supervisor had warned us that we would need to bargain, a skill I was not very familiar with. Nonetheless, I was able to approach a vendor and bargained to purchase a kurti (Indian dress) for 200 rupees less than what he had initially offered me. At this point, I purchased the kurti and wholeheartedly believed that I had gotten a great deal. A few weeks later, I figured out I was wrong.
During my field work in Adilabad district, I had some free time and was able to shop for souvenirs at local stores. I wanted to purchase another kurti so my colleagues and I entered a small store that had a “fixed price” sign on the window. After picking out a kurti, I handed it to my colleague who then started bargaining with the cashier and eventually I was able to buy two kurtis for a price that was nearly three times less than what I had purchased one kurti for in Shilparamam. When I told this to my colleagues, they simply laughed and proceeded to teach me all about bargaining. I learned three main things:
1. There’s no such thing as a “fixed price”
When I told my colleagues about my experience in Shilparamam, I learned that the reason I paid more than I needed to is because I was a foreigner. Unless shopping in a mall or proper department store, nothing really has a fixed price. In fact, most street vendors decide the price of an item based on how much they think you can afford. Due to this, most vendors assume that foreigners are willing to spend more money and increase their prices when approached by foreigners. Additionally, if a customer is dressed in a certain manner or possesses some kind of “luxurious” item, the vendor will again raise their price. I experienced this first-hand when my colleagues and I tried to purchase mangoes from a street vendor. We were driving in a car that had a blue plate number which many people saw as a sign of wealth and luxury. We parked near a mango stand where the vendor offered to sell us mangos for 80 rupees per kilogram. However, after walking a bit further, we approached a vendor that could not see our vehicle and were able to buy mangoes for just 30 rupees per kilogram.
2. Just because you’re not supposed to bargain, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try
When leaving the store where I purchased the two kurtis, I asked my colleague how he was able to bargain even though there was a clear “fixed price” sign. That’s when I learned that bargaining happens everywhere, no matter the situation. It doesn’t matter if a store claims to have fixed prices or doesn’t accept negotiations. When it comes to bargaining, you simply have to try. You can never be sure how desperate or easy-going a vendor might be so it is worth the effort to make an offer. You may be rejected, but in most cases, you will get some sort of price reduction.
3. Bargaining is an art
After experiencing bargaining with locals, I learned that bargaining is an art that takes practice and observation. As I watched my colleagues bargain, I was impressed by their ability to persuade a vendor to sell an item at a reduced price and then reduce the price even more. Similarly, vendors can benefit from bargaining by offering to sell at an extremely high price and then reducing to a price that seems more reasonable to the customer but is still very profitable for the vendor. In Jonathan Haidt’s The Happiness Hypothesis, he discusses the significance of reciprocity in everyday life. Whether we like it or not, we have a tendency to return favors and treat others in the same way they treated us. This also applies to bargaining in the sense that when a vendor offers to reduce a price, we feel the need to agree to the price even if we’re not completely satisfied, simply because the vendor reduced from the original price. This is especially true if we’ve been bargaining over one item for a long period of time.
After my observations and newfound knowledge on bargaining, I am happy to say that I have improved my ability to bargain. I recently returned to Shilparamam and bargained with every single vendor I approached and I was surprised to see how much money I saved in the end. However, I am still not a professional and it will take me lots of practice to get to the level of bargaining I saw from my colleagues. I guess that just means I have more shopping to do!
