Bartering:                                              Back

Bartering is a way of life in Indonesia. In fact in all of South-East Asia. It's important that you have a little savvy when shopping. There are very few fixed priced stores on Bali and even in those that are you should ask if they can lower the price or throw something else in for the same price. You won't be offending them, in fact they not only expect it but will think better of you if you try. It is after all, their way of life.

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Here are some tips:

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1. You walk into a shop and spot the perfect gift or an item you really like. Walk past it showing only a little interest,

spend some time looking at other items in the store then before you leave ask how much they want for that item. DO

NOT LET THEM KNOW HOW MUCH YOU WANT IT.

2. When/if shopping with children make sure they can control their exuberance. When my first container got to my house

and we started to unpack it, the daughter of a friend saw a carving of a water buffalo. "Oh! Al he's beautiful. He looks

so sad and he looks as if he's cold. Please, please can I have him, I just love him." Needless to say 11 year old Tiffany

went home with a sad water buffalo wrapped in her sweater. Can you imagine the dollar signs in the eyes of a shop

owner who over  heard that kind of a statement.

3. In Indonesia it is expected that if you are rich you should pay more, and all westerners are rich when compared to the

average Indonesian. However this is a flexible rule. Better to sell an item then not to sell it because you want to get

more then it's worth from that rich American, Brit. etc.

4. You can't reach a reasonable price?  Walk away, but don't be surprised if your called back & offered the item at your

last quote.

5. Don't! Please don't! try to bleed you adversary. What little you save could be a meal for him or his family/a school

book for one of his children etc. & when you  compare that to what you have/will spend on this vacation, how much is

it,  really.

5a. I waited for a shop owner, who had some items I was interested in, to finish bartering with a French tourist. After

about twenty minutes they finally settled on a price of (I'll never forget it.) 30,000 rp. for a bottle of scented oil. when

they had started he was asking 50,000 she could have settled for forty after  three minutes. At that time the rupiah

was 11,500 to the U. S. $ so in the extra  seventeen minutes she saved about 85c. What a way to waste a vacation.

6. Find out about how much an item is going for.

6a. Ask a friend if they know what an item is selling for.

6b. Sometimes the owners of your homestay will tell you the going price of an item

6c. See if you can find a similar item in a fixed price store.

7. Establish a starting point. Ask the seller what he wants for the object you want.

7a. you may want to ask the price of a similar item first.

7b. make him an offer one half to one third what he started at and work to a price your both happy with.

8. If your adversary seems to have gotten to the point where he's not going to go any lower try to have him throw in

some other small item "OK! If I can get this little carving," etc.

9.  Once your offer is accepted you have to buy it. Don't change your mind .

10.  Do most of your shopping, especially high priced items, in your last days on the island.You'll have had time to get to

know the Indonesian value of the items you intend to buy.

11. You'll hear "You buy now, first sale of day, I give you good price." If it's early in the day, believe it. The Balinese are

superstitious & the first sale is important to them.

12. You'll also get great deals at the end of the day, especially from the Hawkers. Better to sell it cheap then to pack it

home.

Learn to enjoy bartering it's part of the experience of traveling in Asia