Marrakesh Travel Forum

Hello,

I have only bargained once in Guatemala and I felt bad afterwards, because I know that these people do not have the resources that I have. I usually don't buy a lot when I travel (space issues). What is most people opinion about bargaining for things. I was told by a friend from Chile that "Jean when they see your toursit face, they have already marked up the price and they really expect you to bargain." Curious to see how most people feel about this issue, local and tourists. Thank you.

Bartering for goods is the very essence of some cultures and it is expected.

Don’t think for one minute that when you walk away from the shop that you have robbed him in some way.
He will have made his profit, nobody sells at a loss.

I spent 14 days bartering with a ceramic shop owner in Turkey, every day we would walk past his shop, I would stop to say hello and we would then continue the bartering.

The downside of not bartering is, when we were in Goa, we went to a local market.
We wanted some throws and cushion covers etc. we sorted out what we wanted, 4 throws, 8 cushion covers and other bits and bobs. He gave us a price that was so ridiculously low we decided not to barter (£6)
We paid the man and his wife, took a couple of photos and left.
Other traders in the market saw what had happened and then pursued us throughout the market and we ended up ducking into a café to get away from them all.

The art of bargaining:

When buying something in the souk, kasbah or shops, it is obvious you will have to bargain. It looks like buying crafts or gifts is not done without haggling. It seems a little bit like an auction and one should NEVER offer a price if you are not really interested in buying something.
Be aware: if you offer a price, you are obliged to pay (and buy) if the shopkeeper agrees.

Before starting the game of bargaining keep in mind the absolute maximum price you are willing to pay. It’s also good to know that the shopkeeper’s first price is not a guide to how low he will go. They are all different; sometimes they will go to ten percent of the original quote, others may not budge much. If the price stays above your maximum, stop bargaining, walk away (perhaps you get another lower offer) and try it somewhere else.

I have to admit my bargaining skills are not that good and I often feel still having paid too much after the ‘game’.

Do not feel bad, the price has a mark up to allow for bargaining. The trader will NEVER ever sell at less than a profit margin acceptable to him. All his agony and sob stories are part of the bargaining game. When you have negotiated a price you're prepared to pay, that's it. You're happy, he's happy. You almost certainly would have been able to get an even bigger discount but don't worry about it, either from your or his perspective.

I recall seeing a shop in the newer French part of Marrakesh that had a notice in the window saying something like No Bargaining - Fixed Price only. So had a look inside and all the wares had little price tickets on. I quite liked the look of some leather Moroccan slippers but thought I could 'haggle' if I took two. Sure enough, the shop keeper gave me an almost 2 for 1 discount LOL He was happy and I was very pleased.
So this bargaining is inherent in the nature of some cultures.

When you return from the bargaining atmosphere in Morocco you could try it out in LA ? There must be some shops in LA that could do with more business these days ?

Hello, don't feel bad about bargaining. In these countries, like Morocco, it is really the culture and sellers expect you to bargain. They see you are a foreigner, so don't worry, they will make the price higher from the beginning than for locals. They know their job very well and they will never sell anything for lower price they want. It is fun, big experience and nice way to meet local people.
Good luck!

If you pay the huge first price given then its assumed you were happy to pay that price - your choice not to haggle - so yes its part and parcel as daunting as it can be!
Part of the opportunist that Moroccans are known for.

Carpets are hugely marked up. Women who make them might get paid about 700 dirham by dealers who roam around buying them and the carpet gets sold to the tourist for 4-5000! so they are very much entitled to get some haggling!

Prices will particularly vary with ones nationality as well. Theres a bit of pecking order of nationalities and their stereotypes of wealth and ease of being relieved of it.

Paying a visit to the government run Artisanal Ensembles in most cities will give an idea of prices. and associated qualities.
some things Ive seen ridiculous prices asked are shown to be really low priced - but many excellent things Ive bought by hard haggling in the souks Ive got for much cheaper than in the Ensembles.

Many times Ive had my Moroccan connections buy things for more at their price for the locals and tell me to stay out of sight - if I was in sight the price would go up probable a third or double and if I was on my own itd triple! So that mark up alone is open for haggling!

Also bear in mind a lot of stuff is imported in - for cheap of course- so dont think that paying whatever asking price is supporting local craftsmen. prices for locally made stuff can be better/lower/more reasonable at more off the main track souk areas away from the general tourist path.

Thank you everyone for your input, I will definetly give bartering a try! The only time I see people barganing here in LA is if a product is damaged. Right now all products are so discounted in LA the whole town is on sale!

bartering is a whole different topic!
(especially away from the cities they will seriously barter if youve got tshirts though!)

My brother who works in Jordan (and I've found this somewhat true myself of Mexico) says that if you don't haggle the price and just accept what they first tell you, it can be insulting to the vendor. You are sort of saying, "Money means nothing to me and it's not even worth my time to talk to you about this object."

Bargaining in Marrakech is just what you end up doing for nearly everything you purchase, it can be a little bit of fun for the first few days then in my opinion it gets boring because you always end up paying slightly more than what it is worth, they are robbers in a legal kind of way!

simple example of a market stall in Marra; i was checking out some imitation glasses, i had bought a pair yesterday for £5 (lost them that night) went back to get the same pair agian, £10 was 'best price' today, they had a £10 tag on them as well so i carried on looking, found the EXACT same pair on the SAME stall with a £5 tag on them !!!

If your not carefull they will quite literaly take the shirt off your back ! (thats another story...)