July 16th, 2013.
Today I accomplished something. I learned how to bargain!! Okay, it may not seem like much, but for me it was a big deal.
We went to the Jade Market today in Kowloon, also known as “The Dark Side.” It’s the “across-the-harbour” land in Hong Kong that everybody from Hong Kong Island stares at from their skyscraper windows.
Me, my mom, and a friend took the famous Star Ferry over to the Kowloon dock and then jumped on the subway after a delicious Italian lunch inside a mall. Malls in Asia deserve a whole post to themselves. Maybe I’ll get to that later.
I have to say that being in that market and bargaining was the most nerve-wracking thing I have done in my entire life.
First of all, you walk in and are suddenly overwhelmed and in awe of the sheer amount of jade and vendors selling jade. The rows of stalls seem to go on endlessly.
Then, as you walk by and start to look at each stall’s products (strands and strands of jade, agate, pearls, and many other beads and trinkets) you can’t make eye contact with the vendor or they think you are interested in buying. I quickly learned not to torture the vendors by touching stuff and admiring stuff too much only to walk away. You just learn to say “Thank you!” when they motion at you to look at their things.
Here comes the hard part. When you do want to buy something, you have to inspect it and pretend you are really knowledgeable about what the heck you are looking at to make them think you would know if they were selling you fakes. Then, you have to barter with them and play the game. The game? Yes, it is all a game. They pretend to be aghast when you quote a low price as if you are practically robbing them. You pretend that you can’t bear to pay more than the prices you say.
Then, after much, “Oh, I don’t know…Too much…” you start to walk away…until (if they are willing) they say “Missy! Missy! Ok, special price, just for you!”
Yeah, right.
But then, victory! You get what you wanted for (hopefully) a not so expensive price.
Me, being the Western novice that I am/was, waltzed in there without a clue how it all works and, unfortunately, wearing a diamond necklace. Obvious giveaway that we couldn’t really pull the “Oh, sorry, no more money” card that easily.
Well as I asked “How much” to the first vendor, he quoted me a price in HK $ that was WAY too high. This is pretty normal, but since I had no clue I just asked for him to lower it by $10 HK….and nervously at that!
I was later told that you start by asking for at LEAST half of what they say. So the guy is quick to jump to a “Yes!” and I look to my mom and her friend who found out how much I was about to pay and saved me just in the nick of time! Phew!!
I got a little better at it each time, thanks to the help of my mother on her phone calculator giving very convincing stern looks and our local friend who is much more experienced.
However, it took much persuasion from them for me to calm down and not feel bad for the people when they made sad faces like I was ripping them off. I didn’t want to even lower the initial price at first!
Not to mention the fact that I felt awful every time I had to ignore someone and walk quickly past or look at something only to walk away. Or, when you are bartering and it takes FOREVER and you want to settle on a price just to get out!
After we finished the rounds and did get out of the market, I finally relaxed (apparently I looked nervous the whole time) and shook off the anxious and awkward!
“I’m FREE!!” I said in delight.
Don’t get me wrong, I was extremely happy with what I got, but man what a new, challenging experience! Very fun and adventurous though, two things that are right up my alley.
All in all it was a great day, even with traipsing through rain with umbrellas. It’s rainy season for Hong Kong during the summer. It downpours like no other here!
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