THE ART OF HAGGLING OR SHOPPING

Unless you go to supermarket or mini market where everything has price tag, you may find that bargaining is almost unavoidable. The biggest problem...beside language, is where to start. After the seller name their price you make counter offer. Actually you may start from at any price your heart desire. The worst thing than can happen to you is he or she say would say no. I've never heard anybody get shot, stabbed or punched for making a ridiculous counter offer. Although once I heard this woman apparently was making counter offer which the seller found too ridiculous. It was over a fish. So the seller started advising the woman that she should ask her husband to get himself a boat and go fishing themselves.

Once you make counter offer in whatever language you are using or in sign language, the process of haggling is well underway. Due to a rather common perception among most people in Indonesia that yachties are bunch of well to do Westerners who has nothing better to do than sailing all over the places in expensive boats, they are tend a little bit surprise that you bother to precious waste your price in haggling. On the other hand, they would be surprised if the native do not bother to haggle.

It is safe to say that your counter offer is between half or one third of asking price. Good luck and happy haggling.