Put a Lighter To It!

I had an adventure this weekend that I forgot to mention. On Sunday, I met up with my neighbor after my Chinese lesson. Together we headed to the Black Market. He had been there before; for me it was my maiden voyage.

What an experience. It was simply overwhelming. The market seemed to go on and on. The hallways between shops were narrow and seemed to twists and turn causing you to get lost and spend more time in the market.

It wasn’t until we had walked around for a few minutes that Pat said “I should have told you to make a list.” I immediately started thinking of things in my head that I wanted.

1) Pair of Crocs
2) New Wallet
3) DVDs

The process of bartering with the shop owners was aggravating, interesting, and fun and at times caused you to laugh out loud. I was amazed at the lines they used “For you, special price.” Or “I give you friend’s price.” Or “you tell me your best price.”

Their selling techniques were also impressive. I was on the hunt for a wallet/small clutch with a wrist strap. I had brought one from home and until that weekend it was one of the best things I had brought with me. The day before I went to the market the wrist strap had broken….guess that’s what you get for a $10 item from Target. (However, I still like it so am trying to find a way to fix it.)

In the meantime I needed an alternative. I had brought along my broken clutch to show the folks what I wanted. At one store I think the worker pulled out 5 different options. One was this hideous read Channel clutch. Ok, it wouldn’t have been bad if it was in black. I asked for black but no luck. The women though wouldn’t give up trying to push the red saying bright colors were great, more fashionable. I moved on, opting not to settle.

At the next store a man pulled out a black Louise Vitton (? Spelling) wallet with a wrist strap. Hmmmm this had potential. I think he saw the look in my eye because he took out a lighter and put it up the wallet saying proudly “Look its real leather!”

We actually were out of his store and halfway down the hall and the bartering was still going on. I got what I wanted though at a price I thought was fair.

Here are how my purchases stacked up
Asking Price Final (Negotiated) Price
Crocs 100rmb 50rmb
Wallet 280rmb 110rmb
DVDs (qty of 10) -- 100rmb*
*here we just told him our price and he accepted, meaning we probably could have gone lower.