The Art of Bali Bargaining

-

538484510_a8823144e7

If you buy something in Bali in most shops and markets, you need to bargain. Bargaining can be difficult if you are not used to it. Some of the people that I talked to told me it is quite embarrassing to bargain, because they rarely, if not never, do it in their life. In Bali the sellers expect you to bargain when you want to buy something. If you don’t bargain, you might pay too much for something you buy.

So, how do you bargain?

When you walk accross a shop, let say a T shirts shop, the seller often shout loudly to you in their Balinese accent, "Come ya, just have a look. Not buying is okay." You walk in and see something you like and take it. You try it and the seller give a price. Tell the seller that the price is too expensive, shake your head, and give the T-shirt back to the seller. Then the seller will lower the price or ask you to name your price. Normally, people bargain fifty percent of what the price is offered. Let say, the price is 10 bucks, then you bargain 5 bucks. Then maybe you’ll pay 7 dollar for it. But, indeed, you can start lower than fifty percent and end up paying fifty percent depending on the things you want to buy.

Sometimes the bargaining can be hard because the seller won’t lower the price. You have stated the price 6 bucks, but the seller remain in her price;9 bucks. What you can do is leave the shop. By leaving, it will look to the seller that you are not interested in buying, then she will lower the price. Maybe she says 8 bucks, but you walk farther, finally she says okay. She agree with your price. It is time to go back and get the goods.

In certain case, the seller will not call you back when you leave. This only can mean one thing, your price is too low. Then you should forget about it, and find other shop that sell the same stuff. You will find it easily. In fact, it is also important to visit few shops to have an idea how much things cost by comparing the price from one shop to other shop. Then you’ll be able to draw to a conclusion how much things really cost.

Why bargaining?

It is just a tradition in Bali, and I think in many Asian countries. It could be easier, you say, if all price is fixed and there is no need to bargain. Well, you can go to places like supermarket and shopping centre where the price is fixed. Balinese like bargaining. This you can see if you visit a local market where locals haggle for price. I think the idea of bargaining make us feel that we can get better or less expensive price.

Related Articles:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Swastika symbol in Bali?

-
Swastika sign can be seen in Bali, especially in Balinese Hindu temple. I must say almost all the Hindu Balinese are familiar to this symbol. Besides temple, one can also see it in houses, or community building. Even the 'Swastika' word is used as a person name, for example, Ketut Swastika. But why and what does Swastika mean? It simply means balance in relationship. The Balinese Hindu see the life is ideal when they live a balanced life indicated by three good relationship. The first is good relationship between human and the Almighty God. All the festivals, offering in temples, praying activity that you witness in Bali are examples that the Balinese really long for a great relationship with Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa, The Almighty God. Next, the harmonious relationship among the human race. The Balinese values good relationship between themselves. Many activities in villages in Bali involve community of villagers . When one family in a certain village hold a ceremony such as cr...
Read more

Is Cow a Sacred Animal in Bali?

-
The answer you get of this question may vary if you ask different people. The priest may say, yes it is. But many Balinese, although they are Hindu, consume beef. And people in Bali breed cows for meat. You will not see cow wander in the streets, because they are just cattle. Some people don't eat beef because they think they should not eat beef because they think it is a sacred animal. They say they will have a headache if they do so. Well, may be because of the cholesterol or some thing like that. And another thing, we don't consume cow milk or any other milk in the past. We just recently do this, because it is been advertised a lot in the media, that milk is healthy for our body. But many of the older generations, many of our parents or grand parents don't fancy milk. They don't drink milk, they'd rather drink coffee than drinking milk. I can understand that, because milk taste awful sometimes. Oh, did I mention that our cow doesn't produce any milk? Their mi...
Read more

Why Can't A Woman in Period Enter A Temple?

-
Image
"Sorry, I can't go to the temple this full moon. I have my period," that's what Made, a friend of mine, once said to me when we talked about going to a temple. In Bali, women talk openly about their menstruation especially when it is related to temple activities. There is nothing embarrassing about that. But instead of saying in period, they merely say that they have their "monthly guest" coming. When you visit a temple in Bali, you must not be in your period when entering temple complex. Why is that? People, especially the lady tourists, ask with inquisitive and accusing look at me that we don't treat our Balinese women fairly. Okay, let me tell you, that is not the case. There some reasons why people are not allowed to enter the temple, this is called cuntaka (pronounced chun ta ka). If there is a mourning because of there is a death in one family, they can not go to the temple. Because it will cause the temple "leteh" or dirty. The woman wh...
Read more