The majority of shops in Africa don’t have price tags or fixed prices. Supermarkets, shopping malls and high-end shops are usually the exception. Street food stalls and food markets are also not particularly into haggling. But in all the other occasions, you’ll need to negotiate every single time you want to purchase something. The same goes for any service you might be interested in, such as a driver or a guide. I know that other parts of the world share a similar haggling culture, but not having much experience with Asian and South American countries, for instance, I’ll limit my thoughts to what I know best.
Some people really enjoy haggling. Personally, I find it challenging. First of all, because it’s not part of my culture, and it seems to me like a waste of time. Another major reason is that I might have no idea what a “fair” price should be. I don’t want to offend vendors by making an offer that’s far too low for the value of the item I want to buy. I might not know how long it takes to craft, the quality of the materials or the level of skill required to make it. The third reason is that I find “unfair” the fact that they give me a price based on my accent or skin colour. It’s a moral issue, something that I associate with racism. Even though I understand it’s simply a different culture, it bothers me.
The (stressful) game of haggling
The continuous discussion over every single price stresses me out. And at the end of the day I’m exhausted. But that’s the wrong attitude, because haggling is a game and you’re supposed to have fun with it.
So how do you haggle? Here are a few tips based on my personal experiences.
Ask ask ask
Unless you somehow know exactly what you want and how much it should cost, don’t buy from the first shop. Or the second. Ask questions to quite a few merchants or similar service providers. If you check ten different stalls, you’ll probably get ten different answers. But amongst the conflicting information, some consistent truths will emerge. Take your time understanding quality and pricing before jumping into the real negotiation.
A good source of information could be a local. Befriend someone at your hotel, a guide, a driver or just a random person you come in contact with. Ask them how much they would pay for a certain item. They might have no clue about souvenirs prices, but they always have a good suggestion for a specific shop (where some relative works, probably) or price guidelines.
For example, in Uganda I used to ride boda-boda, the local motorbike taxis. They have a fairly fixed price rate depending on the number of people and the distance to travel. I asked a person I knew how much all these movements would cost him and refused to pay a cent more than that to anyone who tried to ask me for more (which happened often, due to the colour of my skin). The simple act of walking to the next motorbike, would make them call me back and accept the standard local price.
Are they lying? (spoiler: yes!)
I don’t mean to sound harsh, but in my experience, most merchants from haggling culture countries lie and cheat constantly. In Morocco a food seller told me that he was selling camel meat, while the shop next door insisted that no one would sell that type of meat in the Medina. At least one of them was lying. Maybe both. Shopkeepers might complain that your offer won’t cover their expenses, you’re their first customer of the day, they need to check with their boss who happens to conveniently be away right now, the quality is the best you’ll find around, you’re insulting them with such a low price… Once I wasn’t really interested in a certain souvenir, therefore I bargained really hard. When we finally agreed to my offer, the seller turned to my husband and praised him for having such a clever wife. Apparently, having excellent haggling skills in Egypt makes you a good wife. Funny guy, but nothing he told me during the negotiation was actually true.
The frustrating part is that you never know when someone is being honest. And sometime it goes from in-your-face lies to actual scam. On my last day in Marrakesh I entered a spice shop where the seller assured me he had the finest mint tea and would give me the best deal, because “I’m a Berber, not like others”. He showed me exactly what I was looking for. By then, I had learnt a thing or two about quality and pricing, so I went for it. And here is where the scam came in. This seemingly trustworthy man filled the bag with cheap mint tea mixed with cheap green tea and hand it to me. Of course, he asked the premium price for the high quality tea he claimed to be selling. He said he was a Berber, an honest man I could trust. In reality he was a scammer.
“Where are you from?” (should I lie too?)
Vendors will often ask you where you’re from. They are not just being polite or curious, they are assessing how wealthy you are. It might sound like a joke, but it’s absolutely true. For example, Americans tend to receive the highest initial prices, either because they are not good hagglers or because they are usually quite rich. The UK, Germany and Scandinavian countries also get pretty steep rate. Meanwhile, clients from Greece, Spain or Italy usually get lower starting prices. So far, claiming to be from Eastern Europe has got me the best deals.
Am I suggesting you should lie? Well… as someone who is not used to lie in daily life, I’ve made an exception when bargaining in certain countries. If the local negotiation culture is built on exaggerations, half-truths and pure lies from the sellers, why should I not play along? They lie knowing you know they are lying. It seems to me that they expect me to say “I cannot pay more than this”, only to double my offer a minute later. They basically assume I’ll lie, just as they do. So yes, tell one shop you’re American and another that you’re from Latvia. See if the price doesn’t magically drop by half!
So, what is a fair price?
As the first price you’re quoted often depends on your nationality (and colour of skin, obviously), determining a reasonable price can be tricky. In my experience, most shops are willing to drop to half of their initial offer. I wouldn’t settle for anything above two-thirds. And, of course, the more you buy, the lower the price per item.
In places where the tourist flow is really abundant, their prices can drop below half by far, but it’s not always the case. I’ll give you a couple of extreme examples. I managed to buy two t-shirts for 200 EGP, whereas the first offer I received was 500 EGP per t-shirt. Similarly, I paid 6 JOD (yeah, I know, Jordan is not in Africa, but the haggling system is very similar) for two souvenirs, when the first offer had been 15 JOD each. And I also got offered a cup of tea!
To test if their “last offer” can be lowered even more, use the classic trick to walk away. If they are still in the game, they will call you back and either accept your price or make a new offer (the last offers are endless! There’s always one that’s more final than the last one!). If your offer is truly too low for them, they’ll refuse even when you walk away. At that point, you can either return and accept their last offer or move on and try elsewhere. In the end, it all comes down to how much you value the item and what you’re really willing to pay for it.
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