Tips For Bargaining & Bartering as a LIP

Have you ever been at a local market on holiday or on LIP location somewhere and heard another tourist driving a ridiculously hard bargain with a local, seeing it as some kind of evil game to force the vendor far lower than they want to go just for the sake of a few pence or cents?

Now I know that in many countries bargaining & bartering is expected - indeed offence is taken if you don’t drive a hard bargain and there’s a great vibe of satisfaction all round when the buyer gets to take his spoils home and the vendor gets to make some money that day. In some countries you even do it over a lovely cup of tea together.

There is a limit in my books however to the extent you should go to when bargaining and it makes me cringe when I see tourists haggling over what amounts to 5 or 10p to them just to feel like they’ve won some kind of moral victory…you see them walking away going “Well now, see I wasn’t going to let them rip me off like that”.

Purrrrlease!!! Being ripped off by 5p is hardly the worst thing in the world - you get ripped off in Britain by far more than that on a daily basis. Whilst 5 or 10p means nothing to most tourists, it can mean a great deal more to a local - especially if their average annual wage is £300. Of course their cost of living might be far lower too but trying to win a victory over 5p….I’ve got better things to do with my time & money.

Here’s what we’ve found is the best way not to get ripped off & ensure you’re paying a fair price as a L.I.P on location…

Ask a local (the people from whom you rent your apartment are a great source of knowledge for things like this or people at your hotel) what they would expect to pay for the item you want. When it comes to buying, you then know exactly what price you’re aiming for. It doesn’t do any harm to either take a local with you or to let the vendor know that this is the price your local friend has told you to pay…and not a cent more.

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