Bargains and Bluffs

At Otovalo

Confession: when it comes to traveling, I am cheap--notoriously so.

Like the time I carried my bags down three flights of stairs and bluffed leaving the hotel to save 75 rs on the room.

Or the time I spent ten minutes bargaining fifteen dollars off of a vintage coat when the shop owner laughed and asked, "Where the hell did you learn to bargain like that?"

Or last week when I bargained 30% off of a silver bracelet and it seemed that the owner couldn't decide whether he was more impressed or annoyed.

When my family tease me and laugh, I don't mind because every handful of dollars is another city seen. Bargaining is like a game and it's a fine line between getting a good deal and not insulting or ripping someone off. A foreigner is a gold mine, a perfect target, and it is just as important not to be taken as it is to not take someone else.

I've learned that so long as you laugh, smile, and say please, you can offer pretty much any price.

For instance, on a new pair of alpaca socks."Cuanto questa?"

"Cinco dollares."

"Por favor, dos?"

At Otovalo

She laughs and won't go lower than three dollars. I say thank you and begin to walk away. She calls me back and we settle on two pairs for five dollars. My friend, who I was bargaining for, paid her and the kind lady wished us a nice day.


The tricky part of bargaining is that no one actually names the price they are looking for or the price they are willing to pay. Once in a Cairo marketplace, while I was souvenir shopping for friends, I was asked for at least five times as much for a paper weight than I actually paid. And on good days the merchant is probably successful selling souvenirs for that much to tourists. My first offer is always a good deal less than what I am actually willing to settle on because the whole encounter plays out like a game of chess, and you have to be weary from your very first play.