标题: 老外在中国砍价之“完全手册” [打印本页] 作者: btob 时间: 2005-10-21 10:39 标题: 老外在中国砍价之“完全手册” “I didnt come all the way to china, to kick someone in the nuts”
DVD, BAG, WATCH! My friend i give you good price!
Excuse me did you just call me your friend? Everyone is friends in China. That man sitting on his bamboo chair scratching his foot every morning at 7 am, when you are strolling out to work. He is your friend! You just didn’t even know it. Have you ever heard those stories that start a little bit like this “ my brothers friends sisters cousin, has a friend whose uncle Xiao Zhang can get you cheaper tickets to Beijing”. Although it seems so far stretched and unrealistic, in china, its actually possible that Xiao Zhang might get you on a cheaper flight.
Relationships and Guanxi actually do work. Everyone considers you their friend, so long as you have something to provide to the extended network. In the market place, when someone calls you their friend, PLAY ALONG! It will save you a couple of kuai here and there. Everyone knows generally things are cheap to buy here. When I first arrived here I thought paying 70RMB for a pair of sunglasses was a fantastic deal, later did I learn that the going rate for a knock off is actually 20 RMB.
After 3 years of living and grinding it out here, I have developed my own “friends” at the market. Although I actually don’t know their names, nor do I know what they like to do for fun, they are my “vendor friends”. I have developed a relationship with all key vendors for several popular items. When a “conventional” friend needs to buy something I now hurry them along to my regular vendor for great deals.
You can always get something for cheaper, but it always helps to know someone, this can be said and applied to around the world, however the difference with china is that it is a sport. Bargaining and haggling is a sport, it requires a certain skill set including, language, body gestures and movement, intelligence, team work and most important of all patience.
Know what you want to buy, ask around to see what price others have made purchases at. Research into the different levels of quality available. Inquire about how long your product lasts for. If you have a network of “vendor friends” they will generally be honest with you and suggest other or better options for you. Still be on guard though, and never forget that no matter how many times you have returned to a store, that this is still business. Your “vendor friend” will still up mark prices a bit, so there is always room to bargain for a few more kuai.
Learn to “walk the walk and talk the talk”, walking away from an item after a few mins of haggling can work wonders for you. If you simply don’t have time to sit and chat, and throw punches back and forth on how you need something cheaper and how he needs some money to buy a pack of cigarettes at least. Just walk away, the sales person will now start screaming prices at you that will go progressively lower and lower the further you walk away. This is an easy way to judge how low the person is really willing to sell something before they completely loose the sale and chances of any income. Of course it helps a lot more if you are able to at least utter a few words in Chinese.
Talk to your vendor, there are several approaches that can be taken but I find that this one works as a charm. Try smiling, be bubbly, tell the vendor you are buying this as a gift and that you’re a student with a low budget. Be their buddy, tell them that they are your “Friends” for a change. Make sure you tell them that the guy in booth 217 was offering you a cheaper price, and was going to throw in a free scarf. Speaking of which, freebies are easy to negotiate for. When you have already settled on a price, and last minute you have an inkling that you paid a bit too much. Ask “Bag lady” to throw in something for free, perhaps a keychain or a small item that matches what you are about to purchase.
Team work can come into play when bargaining with a friend. You can casually talk about how you saw that item cheaper at another store, and try and convince your friend that they can get a better deal else where. When “Shoe guy” hears this, he will want to make sure that you don’t leave, and may offer you a rock bottom price. But buyer beware, they will also try and convince you that the other “shoe guys” products aren’t of as high a quality as his are. Your best bet here is then to say that you purchase these items all the time and know very well about Class A, B, and C products. Once “shoe guy” hears you are a regular shopper, he will then become more inclined to sell you items.
In shanghai, you can make friends, and you should make “friends” too. It will take you places, and in this fast paced environment competitive environment, you will need to apply these “golden rules of shopping” to other aspects of your life as well. Good luck on your adventures, I’m heading out the door now, to go see what’s the latest on the streets.